Device, kit and method for coloring hair

ABSTRACT

A hair-penetrating shield  220  comprises a tooth array having top  280  and bottom  290  surfaces. In some embodiments, for a majority of the teeth, a cross section of each tooth (for example, triangular in shape) has an asymmetric width profile such that the tooth cross section, on average, is narrower near the top of the tooth and wider near the bottom of the tooth. In some embodiments, a ratio between: i) a first average tooth width describing the average tooth width below the top-bottom midpoint; and ii) a second average tooth width describing the average tooth width above the top-bottom midpoint is at least 1.2, or at least 1.6. In some embodiments, a non-viscous hair-coloring agent is dispensed as a mist over the top of the surface of the shield so as to color roots of hair passing through the spaces between the teeth of the user&#39;s hair. In some embodiments, closely-spaced teeth of the hair penetrating shield protect the user&#39;s scalp from the non-viscous hair-coloring agent. Related methods and kits are disclosed herein.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a hair-coloringapplicator device and to a related method for the coloring of hair.

Particular embodiments may be useful for the temporary coloring ofgraying hair, for example, at or near the hair roots.

Hair dyes are commonly used to hide the gray and white hairs typicallycaused by aging, as well as to alter other hair colors to suit personaltaste. Hair colorants may be broadly classified into several types,although colorants of different types may be combined, and somecolorants may not clearly belong to any one type [Anderson, J. Soc.Dyers Colourists, 116:193-196 (2000); Zviak and Millequant, [Zviak,Charles; Millequant, Jean. Editor(s): Bouillon, Claude; Wilkinson, John.Science of Hair Care (2nd Edition) (2005), 251-275. Publisher: CRC PressLLC, Boca Raton, Fla.].

Permanent colorants are usually formed by mixing small aromaticprecursors with an oxidizing agent, typically hydrogen peroxide.Following oxidation, the precursors covalently react with each other toform a dye. The small precursor molecules can diffuse into the hair moreeffectively than the larger dye molecule can diffuse out. An alkalizingagent, typically ammonia, is also added in order to cause swelling ofthe hairs, which allows maximum penetration of the precursors into thehair. In addition, the peroxide bleaches the original hair color,thereby allowing the color of the dye to completely replace the originalhair color. Permanent colorants are quite popular, but they suffer thedrawbacks of the complexity of correctly mixing and applying theprecursors, and the use of potentially harmful reagents. Thus, permanentcolorants are normally applied by professional hair stylists. Inaddition, even permanent coloring cannot hide the original hair colorthat inevitably reappears with the new growth of hair.

Demi-permanent colorants are similar to permanent colorants, but uselower concentrations of peroxide, and an alkalizing agent that is lesseffective than ammonia, but has a less unpleasant odor. Demi-permanentcolorants are therefore less effective at penetrating the hair andbleaching the original hair color, and cannot be used to effectivelycolor predominantly gray or white hair. However, the relative gentlenessof such colorants makes them desirable when less effective coloring issufficient, such as when gray or white hairs constitute a minority ofhairs.

Semi-permanent colorants typically comprise molecules, such asnitrophenylenediamines and nitroaminophenols, which are small enough todiffuse into the hairs. Such colorants do not require additionalreagents and are therefore easy to use, but they are less effective thanpermanent dyes, fade relatively quickly following several shampooings,and cannot bleach the original hair color.

Temporary colorants typically do not penetrate the hairs, and thereforeare capable of only moderate changes in hair color. They are alsoremoved by the first shampooing, and are therefore appropriate forindividual occasions, and to make slight alterations to hair color, suchas hiding gray or white new growth, until a more permanent colorant isapplied. Because temporary colorants need not comprise small moleculescapable of penetrating the hair, a wide variety of compounds may beused, which facilitates convenience. For instance, one may select dyesthat have no risk of inducing an allergic reaction, which is notpossible with more permanent colorants. There is also a large number ofshades to choose from.

The ideal characteristics of a temporary hair colorant depend on theexact use of the colorant. Typically, however, it is important that thecolorant be easily removable by shampoo, but not by rain, perspirationor friction from clothing or pillowcases. It is also desirable that thecolorant have a sufficiently high affinity to hair, and to color hairevenly.

Temporary hair colorants have been used as ingredients in shampoos andconditioners, shading strengtheners, colored hair sprays and mascaras,aimed to be applied to the entire head of hair or as hair streaks. Toprovide even and stable coloring there are often several families ofdyes used within a single formula. The charge of the dyes can benegative or positive to provide low or high affinity to the hair shaft,as dyes with positive charge (basic dyes) have a higher affinity to thehair.

Common temporary hair colorants include azo derivatives, basictriphenylmethane dyes such as methyl violet, azine derivatives such assafranine, and indoamines and indophenols [Zviak and Millequant, supra(2005)]. Colored polymers have been used, as well as artificial melanin.

Polymer colorants with a strong affinity to hair are oftensemi-permanent or permanent colorants. Examples of polymers with astrong affinity to hair which are semi-permanent colorants are disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,182,612, 5,702,712 and 5,827,330.

A polymeric temporary colorant thereafter must have at most a moderateaffinity to hair, and more desirable, a low affinity to hair. Examplesof polymers suitable for temporary coloring of hair are disclosed, forexample in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,737,907 and 5,891,199.

Tannic acid, or gallic acid produced by hydrolysis of tannic acid, hasfor centuries been combined with ferrous ions to produce iron gall ink.After writing with the pale ink, the ferrous ions are oxidized byatmospheric oxygen to ferric ions, which react with the tannic acid toproduce a dark violet-black organometallic polymer that can permanentlybind to proteins, such as those in parchment. Iron gall ink is rarelyused today, because paper does not comprise protein, and excess ironatoms are highly corrosive, damaging both paper and pens.

A similar process has been used to permanently or semi-permanently dyehair with a dye that binds the protein of hair. For example, EP PatentNo. 327,345 discloses a kit which comprises a shampoo comprising ferrousion for washing hair, and a solution comprising tannic acid which isapplied to the hair after shampooing in order to create a semi-permanentblack dye. Such a kit is inadequate for use as a temporary colorantbecause the colorant is semi-permanent, and because the use of twosolutions (a tannic acid solution and a ferrous ion solution) is toolengthy and complex to appeal to consumers. Moreover, the kit disclosedtherein must be used more than once in order to achieve full coloration.

Japanese Patent No. 2,014,324 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,472 disclose haircolorants comprising ferric ion and tannic acid in a single formulation.The colorants used in the taught formulations, however, are nottemporary.

Chinese Patent Application No. 1990-104,017, Japanese Patent Nos.3,014,160 and 48,031,902 and Japanese Patent Application Nos.2002-47,287, 1993-312,065, 1988-292,113 and 1984-65,068 disclosepermanent or semi-permanent hair colorants comprising ferrous iron andtannic acid in a single formulation. Based on the art of iron-tannicacid colorants, it is believed that ferrous ion undergoes oxidation toferric ion (e.g. by exposure to air) before reacting with tannic acid toproduce a colored polymeric iron tannate. Oxidation of ferrous ions in ahair colorant that has been applied to the hair results in the formationof an iron tannate polymer strongly bound to the hair, making thecolorant non-temporary. These patents and patent applications are silentwith respect to compositions that comprise tannic acid and ferric ironions, let alone compositions that are devoid of unbound ferric ions.

Japanese Patent Nos. 61,055,483, 130,823, 94,800 and 93,052 and JapanesePatent Application Nos. 2005-206,160, 2000-85,556, 1990-336,606,1987-245,287, 1984-177,514 and 1972-81,137 disclose permanent orsemi-permanent hair colorants comprising two formulations, one of whichcomprises iron ions, and the other comprising tannic acid. Mixture ofthe two solutions in hair allows the production of iron tannates in thehair, the iron tannates thereby becoming bound to the hair. In additionto the inability of such formulations to serve as temporary colorants,iron-tannic acid hair colorants suffer from several generaldeficiencies. The dark black color does not appeal to many consumers. Inaddition, all of the abovementioned formulations comprise unbound ironions. Unbound iron is corrosive, and ferrous ion in particular produceshighly oxidizing free radicals by the Fenton reaction. Excess iron candamage hair and cause unsightly skin hyper-pigmentation [Landsown, Int.J. Cosmetic Sci., 23:129-137 (2001)].

Melanoidins are a family of brownish, colored compounds that result fromthe interaction between sugars and amino acids under moderate heat.Melanoidins are responsible for much of the browning and flavor ofcooked foods, and hence are recognized as highly safe agents. However,melanoidins have not been disclosed as hair colorants heretofore.

It is advantageous for temporary hair colorants to comprise aformulation suitable for applying the colored compound(s) includedtherein to the hair with the desired ease and convenience. For example,the formulation may include solvents and/or surface active agents whichallow the solubilization of the colored compound, and yet are fastdrying formulation. It is also desirable in many cases for theformulation to include ingredients that prevent the temporary haircoloring from fading and/or rubbing off prematurely.

PCT Patent Application No. WO 94/10968 teaches an aqueous hair dyecomposition comprising solubilized melanin and a cationic material whichbinds the solubilized melanin to the hair via electrostaticinteractions. The melanin is preferably solubilized by being oxidizedwith hydrogen peroxide, which is taught therein as imparting an ioniccharacter to the melanin. The cationic material, such as a quaternium orpolyquaternium compound, is taught therein as complexing the anionicmelanin in a manner that increases the affinity of the melanin to thehair.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,374 teaches a hair coloring composition comprisingalcohols to allow quick drying, and a polymer which prevents the colorfrom rubbing off.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,240 teaches an aqueous hair coloring compositionwhich includes a quaternary ammonium functional silane to preventrubbing off.

Japanese Patent Application No. 1993-312,065 teaches a hair coloringcomposition comprising tannic acid, ferrous salts, and a silicone oilsuch as a silicone-polyether copolymer. Such silicone oils arenon-volatile surface active agents useful in forming smooth films onhair.

As temporary hair colorants are desired for the potential ease andconvenience of their use, it is particularly advantageous to have aquick and convenient technique for applying such colorants. Colorants inthe form of pencils or wick-type applicators (e.g., U.S. Pat. No.5,964,222) are frequently used to touch-up the hair along the hair line.Another technique involves combing into the hair a temporary haircolorant gel. In a further technique, hair colorant powder is applied bysqueezing a bottle or by an aerosol container to dispense the powder,which is then worked into the hair line with the fingers.

SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure describes a hair-coloring applicator devicecomprising (i) a shield device including an upper surface and a lowersurface and (ii) an aerosol assembly for delivering a hair coloringcomposition or agent onto the upper surface of the shield.

At any given time, the hair-coloring applicator device may be useful forcoloring hair in a specific ‘local treatment region’—for example, at ornear the hair line which delineates the border between the user'sforehead and a ‘hair mass’ higher on the user's head. For example,rather than using the device to color an entirety or most of his/herhair, the device is especially useful for ‘touching up’ hair roots ofvisible regions of hair where the hair.

In one use-scenario, a user colors or dyes a majority of his/her hairfrom a ‘natural color’ to a ‘target hair color’ using any techniqueknown in the art. At a later time (for example, a few days or few weekslater), the user's hair has grown so that the roots of his/her hairrevert back to the ‘natural’ color. In many of these use cases, ratherthan rectifying this situation by coloring the entire hair mass (or evena significant fraction), the user is mainly interested in ‘touching up’embarrassingly visible regions (for example, near the hair linebordering the forehead) where the hair-roots have reverted to theirnatural color. According to this an other use scenarios, the user may beinterested in a ‘quick, low effort’ solution where the local regions ofhair are treated quickly without requiring significant effort on thepart of the user.

In some embodiments, the shield portion of the presently disclosedhair-coloring applicator may include a plurality of narrow elongatedslots (e.g. substantially parallel to each other) via which strands ofhair may pass. During usage, (i) the hair coloring composition issprayed, from the aerosol assembly, into a region of space ‘above’ thehair shield; (ii) the shield is oriented to be substantially parallel tothe local plane of the user's scalp so that user's scalp in the‘treatment region’ is below the shield and protected by the shield fromthe hair coloring composition which may stain the scalp; and (iii) theuser's hair at the ‘treatment region’ traverses (i.e. in an ‘upward’direction) the thickness of the shield via the elongated slots so thatat least a portion (preferably, including hair roots) of hair strandsare located ‘above’ the shield (in contrast, to the scalp which is‘below’ the shield and protected from the hair composition).

When the user sprays the hair coloring composition in a region of space‘above’ the shield, the hair coloring composition makes contact with the‘traversing’ hair strands to color at least a portion of the hairstrands (for example, by coating the hair), preferably to color theroots of the hair strands. Furthermore, because the elongated slots aregenerally ‘narrow’ (though wide enough to accommodate the traversinghair strands), the shield can substantially prevent the sprayed haircoloring composition which may ‘land’ on the upper surface of the shieldfrom traversing (i.e. in a ‘downward’ direction) below the shield tomake contact with the scalp itself. Such contact may, in many usescenarios, be detrimental—for example, it may stain the scalp.

As noted before, in many use scenarios, the user only wants to colorembarrassing grey (or another undesirable color) hair roots in specificlocalized regions. In this scenario, the user may generally beinterested in a ‘quick and easy low-effort solution’ that does notrequire much effort expending any significant effort.

In some embodiments, instead of coloring hair with a hair-coloring creamor gel or a mousse as is known in the art (typically, the user needs toexpend effort manually ‘working in’ or ‘combing in’ cream or gel ormousse), it may be advantageous to employ a quick-drying and/ornon-viscous hair coloring composition that is configured to coat strandsof hair without causing hair strands to stick together and without anyneed to manually ‘work’ the hair-coloring composition into the hair.

While a ‘quick-drying’ and/or ‘non-viscous’ hair coloring compositionmay be easy to work with (i.e. there is no requirement to ‘work it intothe hair’ and/or it generally dries quickly), one salient feature ofnon-viscous liquids is that they tend to run or flow, which couldincrease the likelihood of exposure of the scalp to the hair-coloringagent. For example, the hair-coloring composition may be delivered overthe top surface of the shield as a mist or even as a fine mist.

In some embodiments, it may be challenging to shield the scalp beneaththe shield from droplets of hair-coloring mist (for example, acceleratedby delivery from the aerosol assembly) and/or a hair-coloring agentprovided as a non-viscous liquids.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatuswhich (allow the hair to upwardly penetrate above the shield so that theroots may be colored by the hair-coloring composition delivered (forexample, as a spray) over the top surface of the shield; whilenevertheless protecting the scalp below the shield from even non-viscoushair-coloring agents and/or hair-coloring agent delivered as a stream ofdroplets.

Experiments conducted by the present inventor have indicated that one ormore of the following geometric properties may be useful for the shield:

(A) the narrow elongated slots are wide enough to accommodate theupwardly-traversing hair strands but narrow enough so that substantialquantities of hair-coloring composition do not downwardly penetratebelow the shield onto the scalp;

(B) the narrow elongated slots may have some sort of length feature—i.e.they may be long enough to allow ‘significant quantities’ of hair toupwardly traverse the slots above the shield where the hair compositionis delivered from the aerosol assembly. Elongated but narrow slots wouldthus have some sort of elevated ‘slot aspect ratio’ relating slot length(i.e. either the entire length of the slot or the ‘aspect ratio’ withina section of the slot having some sort of length) with some measure ofthe slot width—in some embodiments, the ‘slot aspect ratio’ may be atleast 30 or at least 40 or at least 60 or at least 70 or at least 80 orat least 90 or at least 100);

(C) the shield portion of the device may include a plurality ofgenerally aligned and/or substantially parallel teeth that are ‘closelyspaced’ to each other—for example, slots or voids between laterallyneighboring teeth may have any ‘narrow slot’ or ‘narrow gap’ property toblock hair-coloring composition from ‘downwardly’ penetrating the shieldto the scalp;

(D) although the teeth would not be ‘extremely narrow,’ in someembodiments, the teeth are not be ‘too wide’ (for example, teeth thatare too wide may reduce the number of slots than can be fit in a devicethat is not ‘too wide’). In some embodiments, the upper limit (e.g.averaged over a majority or significant majority or very significantmajority of the teeth and/or averaged over the entire length of teeth oraveraged over some lengthwise section of the tooth or shield) for toothwidth (or the upper limit for average distances between slots) may be 4mm, or 3 mm, or 2.5 mm, or 2 mm). Because ‘longer teeth’ may provide amore efficient device (i.e. longer slots to accommodate more hairstrands), and because the teeth may have some sort of narrownessproperty, in some embodiments, the ‘tooth aspect ratio’ may berelatively large for example, at least 20 or at least 30 or at least 40or at least 50 or any range or value disclosed herein. The tooth aspectratio, discussed below, relates tooth length to tooth width or thicknessor cross section averaged over the entirety of the tooth or over some‘section of tooth/length of tooth’ along the tooth axis)

(E) the shape of the cross section of the teeth (or the cross section ofthe void between laterally-neighboring teeth) may also play a role inshielding the scalp below the shield while facilitating the upwardtraversal of hair strands so that the hair roots are ‘exposed’ to theaerosol-delivered hair-coloring composition. Thus, in one example, thepresent inventors have discovered that upwardly-pointing substantiallytriangularly-shaped teeth (i.e. teeth having a substantial triangularcross-section—see, for example, FIGS. 15, 21-22) may provide excellentresults. These teeth (i.e. the cross section of the tooth in a majorityor significant majority or very significant majority of locations alongthe tooth axis) may be are configured so that the narrowest ‘gap’between laterally-neighboring teeth is near the tooth bottom. Notwishing to be bound by theory, it is noted that by locating the‘narrowest gap’ between teeth near the bottom of the tooth, this mayfacilitate a situation where the root (and not only a ‘higher’ sectionof a strand of hair) upwardly penetrates above the ‘nearest gap’ betweenteeth into a region that is more exposed to the delivery of the aerosolhair-coloring composition. Furthermore, because the teeth are morenarrow near the top, the void between teeth is wider at ‘higher’locations near the top of the void or the top of the laterallyneighboring teeth. This void geometry provided by the tooth geometrymeans that the roots of the hair strands in locations above the‘narrowest gap between teeth’ are less likely to be shielded by theteeth in this ‘higher’ location above the ‘narrowest gap between teeth’;

(F) It is disclosed that there is no requirement for triangularly-shapedtooth cross sections, and in some embodiments, one or more featuresassociated with for triangularly-shaped tooth cross sections for anytooth cross section shape. Thus, in some embodiments, the cross sectionof the tooth and/or the void between laterally-neighboring teeth mayhave an asymmetric width profile so that the tooth is wider at thebottom (i.e. on average, in most locations) and narrower at the top (orconversely, so that the void is wider at the top and narrower at thebottom so that the ‘narrowest gap’ is located near the bottom of theneighboring teeth).

(G) In some embodiments, the topography of the top surface of the shieldand bottom surface of the shield may different so that the top of theshield feels relatively rough (e.g. due to an undulating surface thatundulates in the lateral direction) and the bottom of the shield feelsrelatively smooth. The ‘length scale’ for the roughness and thesmoothness would typically be around 1 mm (i.e. 0.5 mm or 0.75 mm or1.25 mm or 1.5 mm or 2 mm).

This may be observed by observing the trajectory of a cylinder whoseradius is 0.5 mm or 0.75 mm or 1 mm or 1.25 mm or 1.5 mm or 2 mm and wholength is at least 0.5 cm or at least 1 cm or at least 2 cm or at least3 cm or at least 4 cm) over the top and the bottom surfaces. The topsurface which is ‘rough’ would cause the cylinder to undulate oroscillate when moved in a lateral direction over the top surface of theshield at a larger or much large magnitude than when in an identicalexperiment, the same cylinder is moved in a lateral direction over thebottom surface of the shield (where the vertical oscillations orundulations may be non-existent or much smaller).

In one example, for a majority of voids between teeth of a tooth array(of any number disclosed herein), when the cylinder is ‘rolled’ or movedlaterally over the top surface of the shield in a lateral direction, thecylinder would undulate or oscillate at a first magnitude where themagnitude of vertical oscillations or undulations would be at least 0.5mm or at least 1 mm or measure that is equal to the radius or 1.5 timesthe radius of cylinder. When the same cylinder, in the same location, ismoved over the bottom surface of the shield, the magnitude of verticaloscillations or undulations for the bottom surface (i.e. a secondmagnitude) would be less (i.e. having a value that is at most 50% or atmost 30% or at most 20% or at most 10% of the first magnitude observablefor the top surface—for example, compare FIG. 25 to FIG. 27

In some embodiments, the ratio of (i) the magnitude of theundulations/vertical oscillations for the top surface (i.e. measured forthe given cylinder) to (ii) the magnitude of the undulations/verticaloscillations for the top surface (i.e. measured for the same givencylinder) may be at least 1.5 or at least 2 or least 3 or least 5.

In one example, for the top surface the magnitude of oscillations orundulations of the cylinder may match (i.e. within a tolerance of 70% or50% or 30%) the cylinder radius.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-coloring device forcoloring hair roots, the device comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shieldcomprising a tooth array having top and bottom surfaces and havingproximal and distal ends, the tooth array including at least eightclosely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion and atapered distal portion for facilitating hair penetration; and ii) foreach tooth of the majority , the main portion includes a section havinga length of at least 2.5 cm where for most locations along the toothaxis within the section: A) a cross section of the tooth has anasymmetric width profile along the shield thickness axis such that thetooth cross section, on average, is narrower near the top of the toothand the tooth cross section, on average, is wider near the bottom of thetooth; B) the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2; and C) the toothis separated from a laterally neighboring tooth to provide a minimum gapdistance that is between 0.3 mm and 1 mm, and b) an aerosol assemblycoupled to the hair-penetrating shield, the aerosol assembly includingan aerosol outlet elevated above the top surface of the shield, theaerosol assembly configured to dispense a non-viscous hair-coloringagent as a mist in a proximal-distal direction defined by the array ofteeth onto the top surface of the shield such that the hair-penetratingshield protects the space beneath the bottom surface from thenon-viscous hair-coloring agent.

In some embodiments, each tooth has a top-bottom midpoint that is midwaybetween the tooth's top and bottom, and wherein for the majority ofteeth of the tooth array, for most locations along the tooth axis withinthe section, a width ratio between:

i) a first average tooth width describing the average tooth width belowthe top-bottom midpoint;

ii) a second average tooth width describing the average tooth widthabove the top-bottom midpoint is at least 1.2.

In some embodiments, for the majority of teeth, for most locations alongthe tooth axis, the width ratio is at least 1.6.

In some embodiments, for the majority of teeth, for most locations alongthe tooth axis, the tooth cross section is less than 3 mm̂2.

In some embodiments, for the majority of teeth, for most locations alongthe tooth axis wherein: i) each pair of laterally neighboring teeth T1and T2 are positioned to form a respective intertooth lateral void thatis in between the laterally neighboring teeth within a height rangehaving upper and lower bounds: A) the upper bound being the lower heightof the top of tooth T1 and the top of tooth T2, and B) the lower boundbeing the greater height of the bottom of tooth T1 and the bottom oftooth T2, and ii) a cross section of the respective intertooth void hasan asymmetric width profile along the shield thickness axis such thatthe void cross section, on average, is wider near the top of theintertooth void and the intertooh void, on average, is narrower near thebottom of the intertooth void.

In some embodiments, i) each void has a top-bottom void mid-height levelthat is midway between upper and lower bounds of the height range; ii)for the majority of teeth of the tooth array, for most locations alongthe tooth axis within the section, a width ratio between: A) a firstaverage void width describing the average void width above thetop-bottom void mid-height level; B) a second average void widthdescribing the average void width below the top-bottom void mid-heightlevel, is at least 1.2.

In some embodiments, the tooth array includes at least 14 closely-spacedteeth.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-coloring device forcoloring hair roots, the device comprising:

a) a hair-penetrating shield having top and bottom surfaces, comprisinga slot array having at least eight elongated shield-thickness-spanningnarrow slots that are substantially aligned a proximal-distal direction,the hair-penetrating shield including a longitudinal section of at least2.5 cm where:

-   -   i) for a majority of slots of the array, each slot provide a        shield-thickness-spanning property throughout a majority of the        longitudinal section;    -   ii) an array-wide average cross-section-minimum-slot width is        between 0.3 mm and 1 mm and/or for the majority of slots of the        array each provide, throughout a majority of the        longitudinal-subsection cross-section-minimum-slot width that is        between 0.3 mm and 1 mm;        -   iii) for the majority of slots of the slot array, a slot            aspect ratio within the longitudinal section is at least 30,            the slot aspect ratio being defined by a ratio between the            slot length within the section and an individual-slot            longitudinal-averaged cross-section-minimum-slot width            averaged over the longitudinal section;        -   iv) an array-wide average slot-slot lateral distance within            the longitudinal section is at most 3 mm and/or at most a            value equal to 3 times the array-wide average            cross-section-minimum-slot width within the longitudinal            section the hair-penetrating shield including a plurality of            elongated, tapered penetrating elements located at the            distal end of the shield ; and;    -   b) an aerosol assembly coupled to the hair-penetrating shield,        the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outlet elevated above        the top surface of the shield, the aerosol assembly configured        to dispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist in a        proximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth onto the        top surface of the shield such that the hair-penetrating shield        protects the space beneath the bottom surface from the        non-viscous hair-coloring agent.

In some embodiments, for each slot of the majority of slots, for mostlongitudinal locations within the longitudinal section, the slotexhibits an asymmetric width profile along the shield thickness axissuch that the slot thickness is narrower near the bottom surface of theshield than it is near the top surface of the shield.

In some embodiments, for a majority of a region that is laterally boundby the first and last slot of the slot array and within the longitudinalsection, the top surface is rough relative to the bottom surface for atopographic length scale of 1 mm.

In some embodiments, the slot array having at least 14 elongatedshield-thickness-spanning narrow slots.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-coloring device forcoloring hair roots, the device comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shieldcomprising a tooth array having top and bottom surfaces and havingproximal and distal ends, the tooth array including at least eightclosely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion and atapered distal portion for facilitating hair penetration; ii) each toothof the majority includes a longitudinal section having a length of atleast 2.5 cm where: A) the aspect ratio of the tooth within the sectionis at least 20, the tooth aspect ratio between defined by a ratiobetween the tooth length within the section and a square root of thelongitudinally-averaged tooth cross section within the section; B) formost locations within the tooth longitudinal section, the toothcross-section is less than 5 mm̂2; and C) for most locations within thelongitudinal section, the tooth is separated from a laterallyneighboring tooth to provide a minimum gap distance that is between 0.3mm and 1 mm, b) an aerosol assembly coupled to the hair-penetratingshield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outlet elevated abovethe top surface of the shield, the aerosol assembly configured todispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist in aproximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth onto the topsurface of the shield such that the hair-penetrating shield protects thespace beneath the bottom surface from the non-viscous hair-coloringagent.

In some embodiments, the tooth array includes at least 14 closely-spacedteeth.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-coloring device forcoloring hair roots, the device comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shieldcomprising a tooth array having top and bottom surfaces and havingproximal and distal ends, the tooth array including at least eightclosely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion and atapered distal portion for facilitating hair penetration; ii) each toothof the majority includes a longitudinal section having a length of atleast 2.5 cm where: A) for most locations within the tooth longitudinalsection, the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2; and B) the tooth isseparated from a laterally neighboring tooth to provide a minimum gapdistance, a ratio between a length of the longitudinal section of thetooth and the longitudinally-averaged minimum gap distance with thelaterally neighboring tooth being at least 30, the minimum gap distancebeing, for most locations within the longitudinal section, that isbetween 0.3 mm and 1 mm; and b) an aerosol assembly coupled to thehair-penetrating shield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosoloutlet elevated above the top surface of the shield, the aerosolassembly configured to dispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as amist in a proximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth ontothe top surface of the shield such that the hair-penetrating shieldprotects the space beneath the bottom surface from the non-viscoushair-coloring agent.

In some embodiments, the tooth array includes at least 14 closely-spacedteeth.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-coloring device forcoloring hair roots, the device comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shieldcomprising a tooth array having top and bottom surfaces and havingproximal and distal ends, the tooth array including at least eightclosely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion and atapered distal portion for facilitating hair penetration; and ii) foreach tooth of the majority, the main portion includes a section having alength of at least 2.5 cm where for most locations along the tooth axiswithin the section: A) a cross section of the tooth has an substantialtriangular shape, the substantial triangle pointing upwards along theshield thickness axis; and B) the tooth cross-section is less than 5mm̂2; and b) an aerosol assembly coupled to the hair-penetrating shield,the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outlet elevated above the topsurface of the shield, the aerosol assembly configured to dispense anon-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist in a proximal-distal directiondefined by the array of teeth onto the top surface of the shield suchthat the hair-penetrating shield protects the space beneath the bottomsurface from the non-viscous hair-coloring agent.

In some embodiments, for the majority of teeth, for most locations alongthe tooth axis within the section, the topography of the top and bottomsurfaces differ, the top surface being relatively bumpy and the bottomsurface being relatively smooth in the lateral direction.

In some embodiments, the top surface is undulating in a lateraldirection and/or a direction perpendicular to the tooth axis.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-penetrating shield usefulfor coloring hair roots, the shield comprising: a tooth array having topand bottom surfaces and having proximal and distal ends, the tooth arrayincluding at least eight closely-spaced teeth such that for a majorityof teeth of the tooth array: i) each tooth of the majority includes amain portion and a tapered distal portion for facilitating hairpenetration; and ii) for each tooth of the majority, the main portionincludes a section having a length of at least 2.5 cm where for mostlocations along the tooth axis within the section: A) a cross section ofthe tooth has an asymmetric width profile along the shield thicknessaxis such that the tooth cross section, on average, is narrower near thetop of the tooth and the tooth cross section, on average, is wider nearthe bottom of the tooth; B) the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2;and C) the tooth is separated from a laterally neighboring tooth toprovide a minimum gap distance that is between 0.3 mm and 1 mm.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-penetrating shield usefulfor coloring hair roots, the shield having top and bottom surfaces, theshield comprising a slot array having at least eight elongatedshield-thickness-spanning narrow slots that are substantially aligned aproximal-distal direction, the hair-penetrating shield including alongitudinal section of at least 2.5 cm where: i) for a majority ofslots of the array, each slot provide a shield-thickness-spanningproperty throughout a majority of the longitudinal section; ii) anarray-wide average cross-section-minimum-slot width is between 0.3 mmand 1 mm and/or for the majority of slots of the array each provide,throughout a majority of the longitudinal-subsectioncross-section-minimum-slot width that is between 0.3 mm and 1 mm; iii)for the majority of slots of the slot array, a slot aspect ratio withinthe longitudinal section is at least 30, the slot aspect ratio beingdefined by a ratio between the slot length within the section and anindividual-slot longitudinal-averaged cross-section-minimum-slot widthaveraged over the longitudinal section; iv) an array-wide averageslot-slot lateral distance within the longitudinal section is at most 3mm and/or at most a value equal to 3 times the array-wide averagecross-section-minimum-slot width within the longitudinal section, thehair-penetrating shield including a plurality of elongated, taperedpenetrating elements located at the distal end of the shield.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-penetrating shield usefulfor coloring hair roots, the shield comprising a tooth array having topand bottom surfaces and having proximal and distal ends, the tooth arrayincluding at least eight closely-spaced teeth such that for a majorityof teeth of the tooth array: i) each tooth of the majority includes amain portion and a tapered distal portion for facilitating hairpenetration; ii) each tooth of the majority includes a longitudinalsection having a length of at least 2.5 cm where: A) the aspect ratio ofthe tooth within the section is at least 20, the tooth aspect ratiobetween defined by a ratio between the tooth length within the sectionand a square root of the longitudinally-averaged tooth cross sectionwithin the section; B) for most locations within the tooth longitudinalsection, the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2; and C) for mostlocations within the longitudinal section, the tooth is separated from alaterally neighboring tooth to provide a minimum gap distance that isbetween 0.3 mm and 1 mm.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-penetrating shieldcomprising a tooth array having top and bottom surfaces and havingproximal and distal ends, the tooth array including at least eightclosely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion and atapered distal portion for facilitating hair penetration; ii) each toothof the majority includes a longitudinal section having a length of atleast 2.5 cm where: A) for most locations within the tooth longitudinalsection, the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2; and B) the tooth isseparated from a laterally neighboring tooth to provide a minimum gapdistance, a ratio between a length of the longitudinal section of thetooth and the longitudinally-averaged minimum gap distance with thelaterally neighboring tooth being at least 30, the minimum gap distancebeing, for most locations within the longitudinal section, that isbetween 0.3 mm and 1 mm.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-penetrating shieldcomprising a tooth array having top and bottom surfaces and havingproximal and distal ends, the tooth array including at least eightclosely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion and atapered distal portion for facilitating hair penetration; and ii) foreach tooth of the majority, the main portion includes a section having alength of at least 2.5 cm where for most locations along the tooth axiswithin the section: A) a cross section of the tooth has an substantialtriangular shape, the substantial triangle pointing upwards along theshield thickness axis ; and B) the tooth cross-section is less than 5mm̂2.

It is now disclosed for the first time a method of touching up hairroots of an individual, the method comprising:

a) engaging any presently-disclosed hair-penetrating shield to a user'shead so that the bottom surface of the shield faces that user's scalpand so that root regions of the user's hair pass through spaces betweenthe teeth of the shield; and

b) dispensing a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist on the topsurface of the shield so as to color the root regions of the user's hairsuch that the hair-penetrating shield protects, from the non-viscoushair-coloring agent, the user's scalp that is facing the bottom surfaceof the shield.

It is now disclosed for the first time a kit comprising: a) anypresently-disclosed hair-penetrating shield; and b) an aerosol assemblyincluding an aerosol outlet elevated above the top surface of theshield, the aerosol assembly configured to dispense a non-viscous haircoloring agent as a mist in a proximal-distal direction defined by thearray of teeth onto the top surface of the shield such that thehair-penetrating shield protects the space beneath the bottom surfacefrom the non-viscous hair-coloring agent.

As used herein the term “about” refers to ±10%.

The term “comprising” means that other steps and ingredients that do notaffect the final result can be added. This term encompasses the terms“consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”.

As used herein, the singular form “a”, “an”, and “the” include pluralreferences unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example,the term “a compound” or “at least one compound” may include a pluralityof compounds, including mixtures thereof.

Throughout this disclosure, various aspects of this invention can bepresented in a range format. It should be understood that thedescription in range format is merely for convenience and brevity andshould not be construed as an inflexible limitation on the scope of theinvention. Accordingly, the description of a range should be consideredto have specifically disclosed all the possible subranges as well asindividual numerical values within that range. For example, descriptionof a range such as from 1 to 6 should be considered to have specificallydisclosed subranges such as from 1 to 3, from 1 to 4, from 1 to 5, from2 to 4, from 2 to 6, from 3 to 6 etc., as well as individual numberswithin that range, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This appliesregardless of the breadth of the range.

Whenever a numerical range is indicated herein, it is meant to includeany cited numeral (fractional or integral) within the indicated range.The phrases “ranging/ranges between” a first indicate number and asecond indicate number and “ranging/ranges from” a first indicate number“to” a second indicate number are used herein interchangeably and aremeant to include the first and second indicated numbers and all thefractional and integral numerals therebetween.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this invention belongs. Although methods and materialssimilar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in thepractice or testing of the present invention, suitable methods andmaterials are described below. In case of conflict, the patentspecification, including definitions, will control. In addition, thematerials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intendedto be limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, withreference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now tothe drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are byway of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of thepreferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presentedin the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful andreadily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspectsof the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structuraldetails of the invention in more detail than is necessary for afundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken withthe drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the severalforms of the invention may be embodied in practice.

In the drawings:

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate various views of an apparatus for coloring hair inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5-6 illustrate an array of teeth.

FIGS. 7-8 illustrate a side view of an apparatus for coloring hair inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 9-10 illustrate an exploded view of an apparatus for coloring hairin accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11C and 12 illustrate usage of an apparatus for coloring hairto color hair in accordance with some embodiment.

FIGS. 13A-13C illustrate spraying a hair-coloring mist composition overa top surface of a shield.

FIGS. 13D-13E illustrate a view of an apparatus for coloring hair inaccordance with some embodiments including an array of teeth whose widthprofile is asymmetric (e.g. triangular).

FIG. 14, 16 illustrates other views of a shield useful for coloring hairin accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 15A-15C illustrate application of spray to hair roots inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 17A-17B and 19A-19B illustrate various views of a tooth array of ashield useful for coloring hair in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 18A-18C also illustrate various views of a tooth array of a shielduseful for coloring hair in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 19A-19B also illustrate various views of a tooth array of a shielduseful for coloring hair in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 20, 21A-21D, 22A-22B, 23A-23D, 24A-24F, and 26A-26C relate tocross section views of a tooth array of a shield useful for coloringhair in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 25A-25B relates to a trajectory of a movement of a hypotheticalcylinder.

FIG. 27 illustrates a trajectory.

FIGS. 28-29 relate to methods for coloring hair in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 30A-30B relate to spray apparatus in accordance with someembodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Some embodiments of the present invention relate to methods andapparatus that were disclosed in PCT/IL2008/001630 which (i) was filedon Dec. 17, 2008; (ii) was published on Jun. 25, 2009 as WO/2009/078017;and (iii) is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In someembodiments, any feature or combination of features described in thepresent document may be combined with any feature of combination offeatures described in application PCT/IL2008/001630.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, is of a haircoloring applicator, and of hair coloring agents and compositions whichcan be used to color hair.

Specifically, the present invention can be used to color (“touch-up”)hair along a hair line in a quick and convenient manner, particularlywith a temporary hair coloring composition which is based on haircoloring agents that are substantially natural (e.g., derived fromnaturally-occurring substances), environmentally-friendly, and whichexhibit natural hair shades, and/or a suitable volatile carrier devoidof alcohol.

The principles and operation of a hair coloring applicator according tothe present invention may be better understood with reference to thedrawings and accompanying descriptions.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and the arrangement of the components setforth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Theinvention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced orcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate various views of an apparatus for coloring hair inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5-6 illustrate an array of teeth.

FIGS. 7-8 illustrate a side view of an apparatus for coloring hair inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 9-10 illustrate an exploded view of an apparatus for coloring hairin accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11C illustrates one use scenario where a user employs a haircoloring device 200 to color roots of her hair—for example, in the‘peripheral’ region 490 bordering the forehead. FIG. 12 illustratesanother use case. FIGS. 13A-13C are side views of the device 200employed in the use cases of FIGS. 11A-11C and 12. As will be discussedbelow, in one non-limiting usage scenario, device 200 including shield220 may be useful for coloring the user's hair (more specifically, theroots of the user's hair) with an aerosol spray (for example, a mist ora stream of droplets including a hair-coloring agent and an alcoholicsolvent) while simultaneously protecting the user's scalp from beingsubjected to the hair coloring agent.

In some embodiments, the hair color provided in the spray form is‘quick-drying’ and/or non-viscous. In these embodiments, despite theability of the hair coloring solution to ‘run’ upon landing on a surfaceof the shield 220 (i.e. due to the non-viscous nature of thehair-coloring spray in these embodiments), shield 220 nevertheless mayprovide geometric properties that facilitate the protection of theuser's scalp from the hair coloring agent.

As will be discussed below, in order to provide this protection and/orother features, shield 220 may, in some embodiments, provide one or moreof the following features: (i) ‘thin elongated’ slots having a high‘slot aspect ratio’; (ii) an array of closely-spaced teeth where theteeth or the voids between the teeth have a ‘high aspect ratio’; (iii)teeth with a specific cross-section shape (for example, triangular);and/or one or more additional features discussed herein

The device 200 comprises (i) a relatively flat hair-penetrating shield220 and (ii) an aerosol assembly 400. Hair-coloring aerosol spray isdispensed from aerosol opening/outlet 210 over the ‘front’ surface 280of shield 220—the path taken by the aerosol onto the top/front surface280 is illustrated by the block arrow labeled “spray” in FIGS. 13A-13C,and is also labeled as element 430 in FIG. 11B.

While not a limitation, in some embodiments, the spray is a ‘fan spray’configured to angularly distribute aerosol spray substantially uniformlyover an angle that is at least 20 degrees or at least 30 degrees or atleast 40 degrees and/or at most 180 degrees and/or at most 120 degreesand/or at most 90 degrees and/or at most 70 degrees and/or at most 50degrees and/or at most 40 degrees. In some embodiments, the fan sprayproduced by the aerosol assembly has a substantially planar shape (i.e.in a plane that is substantially parallel to the relatively flatsurfaced of shield 220 and/or intersects this surface at an angle ofless than 30 degrees or less than 20 degrees or less than 10 degrees). Adiscussion about the spray assembly including the orifice and the ‘sprayinsert’ is provided below with reference to FIG. 30.

In some embodiments, (i) this aerosol spray is directed to the frontsurface 280 of shield 220; and (ii) the mechanical structure of shield220 blocks this aerosol from reaching space 450 beneath shield 220—i.e.space on the side of shield 220 defined by bottom/back surface 290 ofshield 220. In the example of FIGS. 11A-110 and 12, shield 220 may beoriented so that back surface 290 is held against the user's scalp whichis ‘below’ back surface 290—see FIGS. 11A-11C and 12 where the frontsurface 280 ‘faces away from the user's scalp, while the back surface290 (not visible in FIGS. 11A-110 and 12) is pressed again the user'sscalp. In this example, shield 220 is oriented to that the relativelyflat structure of shield 220 is pressed against and substantiallyparallel to the ‘local relatively flat surface’ of the user's scalp.

For the present disclosure, the terms ‘above’ and ‘below’ shield 220refer to ‘above’ and ‘below’ shield 220 along the ‘shield thicknessaxis’ 270 defined in FIGS. 13A-13C irrespective of shield 220 or device200 orientation. In FIGS. 13B-13C, the region ‘above’ shield 220 islabeled as 702, while the region ‘below’ shield 220 is labeled as 704.Because the term ‘above’ and ‘below’ are defined irrespective of shield220 or device 200 orientation, in the example of FIGS. 11A-11C, eventhough shield 220 is substantially vertical, the region into which thehair-coloring aerosol is spray is ‘above’ shield 220, while the scalp towhich back surface 290 of shield is pressed is ‘below’ shield 220.

As noted above, one function of device 200 is to protect or shield thescalp ‘below’ the shield from being directly subjected to thehair-coloring agent delivered as an aerosol. Another function of device200 is to facilitate the deliver of the hair-coloring agent to the hairstrands—for example, to the roots of the hair. Thus, shield 220 mayinclude a plurality of relatively narrow slots 480 (see FIG. 11C) thatare wide enough to accommodate strands of hair but not much wider. Asillustrated in FIG. 11C, these slots may be generally aligned with eachother and/or generally aligned with longitudinal axis 250 of the shield.

For the present disclosure, a slot at a given location (e.g at a‘longitudinal location’ having a value along the slot axis or tooth axisor longitudinal axis 250) may have a ‘shield-thickness-spanning’property at a location if it is possible to traverse the slot, at thegiven location, in the ‘thickness/height’ direction—i.e. along shieldthickness axis 270. Thus, with reference to FIGS. 13B-13C, it would bepossible to ‘travel’ via the slot at the given location has a‘shield-thickness-spanning’ property from the region 704 upward toregion 702 (or vise-versa).

The strands of hair 310 rooted in the user's scalp traverse the narrowslots (i.e. along the ‘shield thickness axis’ 270 defined in FIGS.13A-13C from back surface 290 to front surface 280) to emerge ‘above theshield’ into region of space ‘above’ the shield 702. As shown in FIG.11C, these hair strands 310 (or a portion thereof) then may be‘co-located’ with the sprayed hair-coloring aerosol in the region aboveshield 702 and subjected to the sprayed hair-coloring agent tofacilitate the coloring of hair roots.

In some embodiment, (i) the narrow slots 480 are indeed narrow (forexample, having a narrowest width in the range of 0.2 mm to 1 mm—forexample, at least 0.2 mm or at least 0.3 mm—for example, at most 1 mm orat most 0.8 mm or at most 0.7 mm or at most 0.7 mm or at most 0.6 mm),and (ii) the shield 220 is geometrically structured to substantiallylack other features (i.e. holes, orifices, openings, etc) that wouldallow aerosol to traverse shield 220 in a ‘downwards’ direction alongaxis 270 from region 702 to region 704. Thus, it is possible to providea device and method which will substantially localize theaerosol-delivered hair-coloring agent to the front surface 280 (andhence, localize the aerosol-delivered hair-coloring agent to the hairstrands 310 or in some preferable embodiments to roots of hair strands310) of shield 220 while protecting the scalp which is located ‘belowshield 220’ in region 704.

In addition, in some embodiments, due to the narrowness of slots 480and/or to the ‘denseness’ of material in space defined by shield 220,shield 220 is not really a comb. Instead, shield 220 may be used topenetrate (to a certain degree) into the hair region substantially atthe ‘border’ region 490 between the mass of hair and the user's forehead(see FIGS. 11A-11C) and/or in regions of hair parts (see FIG. 12)—insome embodiments, it may be difficult for the hair-penetrating shield topenetrate much deeper into the user's hair mass.

Nevertheless, in many use-scenarios, a user colors or dyes a majority ofhis/her hair from a ‘natural color’ to a ‘target hair color’ using anytechnique known in the art. At a later time (for example, a few days orfew weeks later), the user's hair has grown so that the roots of his/herhair revert back to the ‘natural’ color. In many of these use cases,rather than rectifying this situation by coloring the entire hair mass(or even a significant fraction), the user is mainly interested in‘touching up’ embarrassingly visible regions (for example, near borderregion 490 and/or in a hair part 510) where the hair-roots have revertedto their natural color. Towards this end, in some embodiments, theshield may be useful for this purpose even if the shield 220 may lack‘combing functionality’ (i.e. in some embodiments) and usage may besubstantially confined to these ‘border’ visible regions of the hair.

In order to protect the scalp and/or provide ‘opportunities’ forhair-strands to upwardly traverse shield 220 to be exposed to theaerosol-provided hair coloring agent, shield 220 may, in someembodiments, provide one or more of the following features: (i) ‘thinelongated’ slots having a high ‘slot aspect ratio’; (ii) an array ofclosely-spaced teeth where the teeth or the voids between the teeth havea ‘high aspect ratio’; (iii) teeth with a specific cross-section shape(for example, triangular) and/or one or more additional featuresdiscussed herein. As will be discussed below, the ‘thinness’ of slots orvoids or gaps may be useful for hindering downward motion of even anon-viscous substance—since certain slots or voids or gaps may still bewide enough to accommodate hair strands (i.e. whose width may be on theorder of magnitude of a hundred or hundreds of microns), the ‘long slot’or ‘long void’ feature may be useful for providing an extended areawhere hair strands can ‘upwardly’ traverse the shield into a space abovethe shield, where hair-coloring agent (for example, droplets of spray)may coat the hair strands.

In another example (see FIGS. 15A-15C), individual teeth may have somesort of asymmetric width profile where the teeth are wider (orconversely, the ‘slot’ or ‘gap’ between teeth is narrower) ‘closer’ tothe bottom 290 surface while the teeth are narrower (or conversely, the‘slot’ or ‘gap’ between teeth is wider) near the top 280 surface. Aswill be discussed below, locating the ‘minimum gap location’ near thebottom may be useful for facilitating where the hair roots, inparticular, are subjected to the hair-coloring agent—for example,including black hair color and/or hair coloring agent capable of‘coating’ the hair.

Another feature that may be provide by device 200 whose use isillustrated in FIGS. 11A-11C and 12 is the ability to ‘penetrate’ intothe user's hair at a ‘border location’ when the shield is orientedsubstantially parallel to the local plane of the user's head.

In order to facilitate the penetration (for example, the ‘shallowpenetration’ into full hair (e.g. thick hair of an Indo-European or anAfrican or an Asian) of shield 220 into a mass of hair, it may be usefulto provide hair-penetrating elements 240 (for example, see FIGS. 11C, 16and 17A-17B). Nevertheless, in some embodiments, due to the narrownessof slots 480 (also note the narrowness of ‘intertooth gaps’ 370 whichmay define the narrowest location of slots 480—see FIGS.17A-17B, 19A-19Band 21A-21D), the shield may provide diminished or no ‘combingfunctionality.’ In one example, the ‘shallow penetration’ is limited toup to 3 cm or up to 5 cm or up to 7 cm into the ‘full hair.’

Other features illustrated in FIGS. 11A-11C and 12 include aerosolcontrol 410, aerosol container 420 where the hair coloring aerosol maybe stored before deliver via opening/outlet 210, and device substrate orhousing 230 which may provide mechanical connectivity or mechanicalcoupling between shield 220 and aerosol assembly 400. In onenon-limiting example, aerosol assembly 400 may be directly or indirectlyfastened to shield 220 via any fastener known in the art, including butnot limited to a clip, a screw apparatus, a magnetic fastener or anyother fastener known in the art. For example, aerosol assembly 400 maybe detachably attachable to shield 220. In another embodiment, aerosolassembly 400 (or a portion thereof) and shield 220 may be glued togetheror welded together, or integrally formed with each other.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 13A-13C which are side views of thedevice 200 (or portions thereof). FIGS. 13A-13C illustrate the proximal228 and distal 224 ends of shield 220 which define a general‘proximal-distal’ direction 226. The distance between proximal 228 anddistal 224 ends is referred to as the ‘proximal-distal distance.’ In theexample of FIGS. 11A-11C and 13, the spray (or some sort of ‘sprayvector’ defining a central tendency of the directions that aerosol spraydelivered from opening/outlet 210 takes) may be along proximal-distaldirection 226, and/or generally aligned with longitudinal axis 250.

In the non-limiting example of FIG. 13B, the outlet/opening 210 viawhich the hair-coloring aerosol is (i) delivered is ‘elevated’ above thesubstantially flat surface/substantially planar surface of shield 220 bya distance labeled as 440 (in FIG. 13B the ‘extension’ of thesubstantially flat surface of shield 220 is labeled as 470) and (ii)displaced in a proximal direction behind proximal end 228 by a distancelabeled as 442. In some embodiments, the ‘height’ indicated by 440 maybe at least 1 mm or at least 3 mm or at least 5 mm or at least 1 cm orat least 1.5 cm or at least 2 cm or at least 5% AND/OR at least 10% orat least 20% or at least 30% of the ‘proximal-distal’ distance AND/OR atleast 1.5 times or at least 2 times or at least 3 times or at least 5times or at least 7 times an average thickness of shield 220. In someembodiments where shield 220 comprises a tooth array comprising aplurality of substantially aligned teeth (see, for example, FIGS.15A-15C and 21A-21D), the ‘height’ indicated by 440 may be at least 1.5times or at least 2 times or at least 3 times or at least 5 times or atleast 7 times an average tooth thickness averaged over teeth of thetooth array.

In some embodiments, the ‘backward displacement distance’ indicated by470 may be at least 5 mm or at least 1 cm or at least 1.5 cm or at least2 cm AND/OR at least 10% or at least 20% or at least 30% or at least 50%a proximal-distal distance’ between proximal 228 and distal 224 ends ofshield 220.

In some embodiments, elevating and/or displacing aerosol outlet 210 in adistal direction may be useful for ‘creating some distance’ between theaerosol outlet 210 and shield 220. In some embodiments, if aerosoloutlet 210 is too close to shield 220, then the risk ofaerosol-delivered hair coloring agent (for example, delivered as astream of droplets) penetrating in a downwards direction from region 702and top surface 280 via the shield to below bottom surface 290 toregions 704 (where the scalp is), may increase.

As indicated in FIG. 13C, although the spray (e.g. a stream of droplets)may initially leave outlet/opening 210 in a direction that may be alongproximal-distal direction 226, the path of the aerosol may curve towardsshield 220 onto upper/top surface 280 to contact and color hair 310which upwardly extended via shield the spray (or some sort of ‘sprayvector’ defining a central tendency of the direction that hair-coloringaerosol spray delivered from opening/outlet 210 takes) may be alongproximal-distal direction 220 into region 702 above shield 220. In someembodiments, this hair coloring spray may include a fast-drying haircoloring agent and/or may include a ‘temporary’ hair coloring agentwhich ‘wears off’ after one or a few hair washings and/or within a shortperiod of time that is at most a few weeks or a few days.

As noted above, the shield 220 may be useful for hindering ‘downward’motion (i.e. from region 702 above the shield to region 704 below theshield) of even non-viscous hair-coloring agent.

In one non-limiting example, the non-viscous hair-coloring agent mayinclude a dye (for example, a basic hair dye) mixed with a non-viscouscarrier such as an alcohol-based carrier. In non-limiting examples, thedroplets are at least 5% or at least 10% or at least 15% by weightalcohol. In non-limiting example, the stream of droplets have a particlesize that is less than 200 microns or less than 100 microns or less than80 microns or less than 60 microns and/or at least 5 microns or at least10 microns or at least 20 microns or at least 30 microns.

A ‘non-viscous’ substance (for example, fluid) is a substance that‘runs’ or ‘flows’, may have a viscosity that is less than 100 cps(and/or less than 100 times the viscosity of water at 20 degrees C.), orless than 75 cps (and/or less than 75 times the viscosity of water at 20degrees C.), or less than 50 cps(and/or less than 50 times the viscosityof water at 20 degrees C.), or less than 30 cps (and/or less than 30times the viscosity of water at 20 degrees C.), or less than 20cps(and/or less than 20 times the viscosity of water at 20 degrees C.),or less than 10 (and/or less than 10 times the viscosity of water at 20degrees C.), or less than 5 cps (and/or less than 5 times the viscosityof water at 20 degrees C.)or less than 3 cps (and/or less than 3 timesthe viscosity of water at 20 degrees C.)or less than 2 cps (and/or lessthan 2 times the viscosity of water at 20 degrees C.)or less than 1 cps(and/or less than the viscosity of water at 20 degrees C.) (cps iscentipoises).

In some embodiments, having a ‘low-viscosity’ hair-coloring substance(for example delivered as a mist) may obviate the need for a user to‘comb in’ or ‘work in’ the hair coloring agent into the hair (as wouldbe the case of a mist). In user would merely spray the hair color intothe hair, and the droplets (for example, that arrive directly from theaerosol spraying opening and/or droplets the ricochet from other strandsof hair) serve to coat the user's hair. In one example, this may takeplace without causing multiple strands of hair to stick to each other.

In some embodiments, presence of a ‘high concentration’ of a propellant(for example, an ether propellant)—for example, at least 15% or at least20% or at least 25% or at least 30% or at least 35% and/or use of analcoholic solvent facilitates the fast drying of the coated hairstrands—for example, within a few minutes.

FIG. 13C-13D illustrate another view of device 220—for example, a crosssection of area spanned by the vectors of shield thickness axis 270 andlateral axis 260 (the lateral direction of lateral axis 260 is alsoillustrated in FIG. 14). There is no requirement for shield 220 to beflat or generally flat. In the non-limiting example of FIGS. 13C-13D,generally flat shield is ‘gently concave down’ to provide some sort ofgentle shallow and wide cavity into which a portion of the user's scalpmay be placed.

In some embodiments, shield 220 may comprise a plurality of teeth, asillustrated in FIG. 14. In the example of FIGS.14-29, each toothincludes a respective main portion 330 and a respective distal portion240. In some embodiments, a gap between the teeth (for example, anarrowest gap or minimum gap distance 370 at a location between the top246 and bottom 248 of a pair of teeth) may relate to slots 480 discussedabove.

In the non-limiting example of FIGS. 15-29, shield 220 comprises a tootharray comprising exactly 22 teeth. This is not a limitation. In someembodiments, shield 220 may include at least 5, or at least 8, or atleast 10, or at least 12, or at least 20, or exactly 22 generallyaligned teeth. In the non-limiting example of FIGS. 15A-15C and 21A-21D,the teeth are all exactly parallel to each other—this is not alimitation. In some embodiments, the ‘generally aligned’ teeth may besubstantially parallel, or may diverge from each other closer to distalend 224 or converge.

One salient feature that may be provided by the teeth of thenon-limiting example of FIGS. 15A-15C is that these teeth are relativelylong/tall and narrow and/or relatively long/tall and thin.

For the present disclosure, the ‘width’ of a tooth (i.e. at any locationalong the tooth axis) refers to the dimension of the tooth along thelateral axis 260. As will be discussed below (see FIGS.21 A-21 D) thiswidth, for any particular tooth, may vary at different locations alongthe shield thickness axis 270 (or along the tooth axis or along thelongitudinal axis 250). In the non-limiting example of FIGS. 17A-17B,19A-19B and 21A-21D, the ‘width’ at the ‘bottom’ of each tooth 248 islabeled as 360, while the width near the ‘top’ of each tooth is labeledas 350.

For the present disclosure, the ‘thickness’ or ‘height’ of a tooth isthe dimension of the tooth along the shield thickness axis 270. As isevident from the figures, the height or thickness may vary along lateralaxis 260 or along the tooth axis or along the longitudinal axis 250.

As was noted above, one salient feature that may be provided by theteeth of the non-limiting example of FIG. 14 is that these teeth arerelatively long/tall and narrow and/or relatively long/tall andthin—i.e. they may have a ‘large aspect ratio’. In some embodiments, forevery tooth of a tooth array of shield 220, or for a majority of teethof tooth array (or for at least 30% or at least 70% of teeth of thetooth array—possible numbers of teeth of the tooth array are listedabove), at least one of TOOTH_RATIO_1, TOOTH_RATIO_2 and TOOTH_RATIO_3may be at least 10, or at least 15, or at least 20, or at least 25, orat least 30, or at least 40.

TOOTH_RATIO_1 is defined as the ratio between the tooth length and theaverage tooth width (i.e. averaged for all locations in the tooth alongthe shield thickness axis 270 and along the length of the tooth—eitherincluding or excluding distal tapered section 240 (hair-penetratingprobe section 240)). TOOTH_RATIO_2 is defined as the ratio between thetooth length and the average tooth thickness (i.e. averaged for alllocations in the tooth along the lateral axis 260 and along the lengthof the tooth—either including or excluding distal tapered section 240(hair-penetrating probe section)). TOOTH_RATIO_3 is the ratio betweenthe tooth length and the average cross-sectional tooth area (FIGS.21A-21D illustrates ‘slices’ or cross-sections of teeth)—TOOTH_RATIO_3is averaged along the length of the tooth—either including or excludingdistal tapered section 240 (hair-penetrating probe section)).

Another salient feature that may facilitate the temporary coloring ofhair roots while the scalp is protected is the feature where the ‘toothis relatively wide the bottom of the tooth’ while ‘relatively narrow’near the top of the tooth.

In some embodiments, in order to provide this functionality, the toothcross section may be triangularly-shaped—for example, with a wider baseand a narrower top. This is illustrated in FIGS.15A-15C.

Also illustrated in FIGS. 15A-15C is the process whereby hair with greyroots may be treated to coat the hair strand (for example, at the root)with black hair-color. Thus, FIG. 15A illustrates ‘before’ treatment,FIG. 15B illustrates one example of the spray process, and FIG. 15Cillustrates the hair strands ‘after’ treatment according to onenon-limiting example.

In the non-limiting example of FIGS. 14-, and 21A-21D, all of the teethhave identical shapes and cross sections (not necessarily identicallength)—this is clearly not a limitation and in some embodiments, theremay be variation among tooth dimensions and/or dimensions describing thegeometrical relationships of multiple (e.g. laterally-adjacent orlaterally-neighboring teeth) teeth (e.g. tooth gap distances).

Furthermore, the tooth cross section may longitudinally vary along the‘tooth axis’ (not shown in the figures).

Furthermore, in the non-limiting examples of FIGS. 15A-15C-29, the teethare exactly straight—i.e. some sort of internal ‘tooth axis’ (i.e. theelongate or central axis of the tooth) always corresponds tolongitudinal axis 250. This is not a limitation, and even if the ‘localtooth axis’ over ‘very short’ distance is a straight line, it isappreciated that when a tooth is not perfectly straight, thecentral/elongate tooth axis (not illustrated) may provide curvature orsharp angles—instead of being a ‘straight line’ it is possible to thinkof the tooth axis as a one-dimensional manifold in space that will, inmany embodiments, be generally aligned with longitudinal axis 250 andapproximate a straight line.

One salient feature that may be provided by the device of FIGS. 14-29 isthat (i) the width of the tooth may vary over different ‘heights’ in thetooth (e.g. over shield thickness axis 270) and (ii) this width functionmay provide an ‘asymmetric width profile’ (i.e. referring to the widthof the tooth at one or more locations along the tooth length—forexample, at a majority of locations over the length of the tooth, or ata majority of locations over a ‘given section’ of the tooth whose lengthis at least 2 cm).

Some features described herein may relate to a ‘given section ‘or‘control section’ of the main portion 330 of a tooth or teeth (i.e. a‘lengthwise section’ or a ‘longitudinal section’) that is at least 2 cmor at least 2.5 cm or at least 3 cm or at least 3.5 cm or at least 4 cm.This ‘longitudinal’ section may be located at any location on the tooth.In some embodiments, this ‘given section’ may be located near the distalend of shield 220—for example, lengthwise adjacent to (i.e. bordering orless than 5 mm or 1 cm from) to the tapered distal section 240 (e.g.‘probe-shaped—for example, including a rounded end).

In the non-limiting example of FIGS. 21A-21D, the tooth cross sectionhas a triangular cross section (for example, a rounded isoscelestriangle). Other cross sections shapes are possible including but notlimited to other examples of ‘substantially triangular cross-sectionshapes.’

In the example of FIGS. 21A-21D, the tooth has a relatively wide widthat the bottom of the tooth 248 (e.g. 360) and a relatively narrow widthat or near the top 246 of the tooth). Another salient feature of FIGS.21A-21D is that the minimum gap width for the cross-section (i.e.between laterally adjacent pairs of teeth—for example, the gap 3701between teeth 330I and 330J) is located near or at the bottom of thetooth 248.

By locating this ‘minimum gap’ near the bottom of the tooth, it ispossible for the root of the hair strand 310 to be located within voidregion 390 between laterally-adjacent teeth above the location of theminimum gap distance 370. In some embodiments, it may be useful orimportant to allow the root of hair strand 310 (rather than only a moredistal location within the hair strand past the root) to traverse thelocation of the minimum gap distance 370 and emerge above this locationinto void region 390 between teeth above the ‘undulating’ upper surface280 of the shield defined by the upper surfaces of the teeth. Becausethe root of the hair strand (and not just an upper location of the hairstrand) is located in the ‘aerosol-exposed’ region 702 above uppersurface 280, rather than the ‘aerosol shielded’ region 704 below alocation of the minimum gap distance 370 (and below the lower/bottomsurface 290 of shield 220), this ‘minimum-gap-traversing’ hair root canbe subjected to the hair-coloring agent provided by the hair-coloringaerosol spray.

In some embodiments, the average or individual void cross section (i.e.for a longitudinal section that is at least 2 cm or at last 2.5 cm or atleast 3 cm at least 4 cm or at least 5 cm or longer) may be (i.e. eitherfor a single tooth or single slot or for an array of any number of teethor slots or voids—i.e. either on average for the array or individuallyfor any number within an array of slots or teeth or voids) at most 6 mm̂2or at most 5 mm̂2 or at most 4 mm̂2 or at most 3 mm̂2 or at most 2 mm̂2—insome embodiments, the average or individual void cross section may be atleast 0.5 mm̂2 or at least 1 mm̂2. This ‘void cross-section’ may prevailon average over the section, or may prevail for at least a significantminority of locations, for at least majority of locations (synonymously‘for most locations), or at least a significant or very significantmajority of locations of the section. This may be true on average forany number of teeth of a tooth array (or voids formed therefrom) or anynumber of slots or voids of a slot/void array and/or be trueindividually for a significant minority or majority or significantmajority or very significant majority of teeth (i.e. the resulting voidsformed therefrom) of the tooth array.

In some embodiments, the average or individual tooth cross section (i.e.for a longitudinal section that is at least 2 cm or at last 2.5 cm or atleast 3 cm at least 4 cm or at least 5 cm or longer) may be (i.e. eitherfor a single tooth or for any number of teeth—i.e. either on average orindividually for an array of any number within an array of teeth) atmost 6 mm̂2 or at most 5 mm̂2 or at most 4 mm̂2 or at most 3 mm̂2 or at most2 mm̂2—in some embodiments, the average or individual void cross sectionmay be at least 0.5 mm̂2 or at least 1 mm̂2. This ‘tooth cross-section’may prevail on average over the section, or may prevail for at least asignificant minority of locations, for at least majority of locations(synonymously ‘for most locations), or at least a significant or verysignificant majority of locations of the section. This may be true onaverage for any number of teeth of a tooth array (or voids formedtherefrom) and/or be true individually for a significant minority ormajority or significant majority or very significant majority of teeth(i.e. the resulting voids formed therefrom) of the tooth array.

As may be observed from the figures, the ‘upper surface of the voidregions 390’ and/or ‘the upper surface defined by connecting toplocations 246 of the teeth’ (this is marked by 340) may deviate from the‘upper/top’ surface 280 of the shield or of the teeth (e.g. above the‘minimum gap location’ of the ‘minimum gap distance’ 370)

One salient feature observable in FIGS. 21A-21D is that the uppersurface 280 is relatively rough with oscillating heights (along thelateral axis) while the lower surface 290 is relatively smooth 290 (anda local level, it may be substantially planar). In some embodiments, thegeometry where (i) the lower surface 290 is relatively smooth and where(ii) the minimum gap location of minimum gap distance 370 is closer toor at the bottom 248 of the teeth is useful for helping the hair strand310 traverse the minimum gap location 370 at the hair root. On the otherhand, if the minimum gap distance 370 were to be higher and/or if thelower/bottom surfaced were to have large ‘height/vertical’ variations,this might, at least somewhat (without leaving the scope of theinvention), somewhat reduce the effectiveness of the device because haircoloring might tend to be concentrate at a higher location on the hairstrand 310 rather than at the root.

The previous paragraph (and any other feature or figure describedherein) refers to some features that may be provided by someembodiments—this is not intended as limiting.

In some embodiments, because the upper surface 280 may tend to undulateor oscillate along the lateral axis while the lower surface may lacksuch undulations/oscillations (or they may only be present to a slightextent), the ‘upper 280 surface’ may be a rough surface (i.e. have arough topography), while the lower 290 surface may be a ‘smooth’surface. Thus may also be observed by comparing FIGS. 15A-15C and FIGS.16 to FIG. 18C—while the width of the teeth in the front surface mayvary significantly between the bottom and top of the teeth (compare 350and 360) on the front side (looking ‘down), in FIGS.18A-18C, it mayobserved that the back surface 290 is significantly smoother. In FIGS.18A-18C, back surface 290 includes wider teeth (i.e. at or near thebottom 248—as opposed to the front surface when looking down the widthmay vary significantly) punctuated by relatively narrow gaps 370.

In a non-limiting example, the ‘minimum gap width’ 370 of the narrowgaps is at least 0.2 mm or at least 0.3 mm or at least 0.4 mm. In anon-limiting example, the ‘minimum gap width’ 370 of the narrow gaps isat most .1.2 mm or at most 1 mm or at most 0.8 mm or at most 0.7 mm orat most 0.6 mm. This may be for any number of teeth of a tooth array(i.e. significant minority, majority, significant majority, verysignificant majority) and/or averaged over any length of tooth or slot(i.e. for a ‘section’ at least significant minority of locations, atleast majority of locations or synonymously ‘most locations, or at leastsignificant or very significant majority of locations)

In FIG. 21D, the ‘highest location’ or ‘top’ of various teeth arelabeled as 246. The ‘bottom’ or lowest point on the shield thicknessaxis 270 is labeled as 248. The ‘halfway’ point (this may be a locus ofpoints if the top of bottom of the teeth are a locus of points) 249 arealso illustrated in FIG. 21D. Nevertheless, all points of the ‘locus ofpoints for 249’ (or the top-point midpoint) would have the same ‘height’923 above the bottom 248—see also FIG. 23C.

In some embodiments, for a majority (or a significant majority—i.e. atleast 70% or 80%) of locations within 2 cm lengthwise ‘control section’or ‘given section’ of the tooth, the ratio between the ‘maximum width360 of the tooth’ (in some embodiments, the maximum width 360 may belocated in the lower half or lower 30% or lower 20% or lower 10% of thetooth—where the upper sections and lower sections of the tooth aredefined along thickness axis 270 and relative to the top 246 and bottom248 of the teeth) and the ‘minimum gap distance’ 370 may be at least 1.3or at least 1.5 or at least 1.7 or least 2. The skilled artisan isdirected, for example to FIGS. 19A and 18. This ‘ratio feature’ may beprovided over a ‘tooth set’ of at least 2 or at least 3 or at least 4 orat least 5 or at least 7 or at least 10 or at least 12 or at least 15consecutive teeth. In some embodiments, this feature may be providedsuch that for the majority of ‘adjacent gap pairs’ 370 (in FIG. 17A,3701 and 370J are ‘adjacent gap pairs—3701 and 370K are not ‘adjacentgap pairs’) the distance between adjacent ‘gaps’ 370 (or, in someembodiments, the average of the distances between the adjacent gappairs) is at most 2 cm or at most 1.7 cm or at most 1.5 cm

It is possible to define a ‘fill factor’ of a 2D surface or of a 3Dvolume of space (i.e. a ‘control area’ or ‘control volume’) thatincludes both (i) ‘matter of shield 220’ or ‘matter of teeth 330’ (forexample, plastic or any other appropriate material) as well as (ii) voidor empty space (for example, 390 or 702 or 704). The ‘fill factor’refers to the ratio of: (i) the total area (or volume) within the‘control area’ (or ‘control volume’) that is occupied by matter DIVIDEDBY; (ii) the total size (i.e. area or volume) of the control volume.

One example of a ‘control’ volume is illustrated in FIGS. 22A-22B(labeled as 810). The ‘measurement’ or ‘length’ of the control volume inthe longitudinal dimension 250 may be at least 1 cm or at least 2 cm orat least 3 cm. The ‘measurement’ of ‘length’ of the control volume inthe ‘transverse direction’ 260 may be at least 0.5 cm or at least 1 cmor at least 1.5 cm or at least 2 cm. In some embodiments, the ‘fillfactor’ may be at least 60% or at least 70% or at least 75% or at least80% or at least 85% or at least 90% or at least 95%.

The control area or the control volume may by substantially flat—e.g. inthe lateral direction, following the contour of a mid-line or mid-curveof the shield (i.e. connecting ‘midpoints’ of adjacent teeth where themidpoint is defined by the ‘average location’ of the top 246 and bottom248 of the tooth) following the contour of the bottom/lower surface 290.

In some embodiments, in the direction along the ‘lateral direction’along the lateral direction, the control area or the control volumeincludes a plurality of elongated slots (i.e. these slots are ‘voids’and may correspond with the ‘minimum gap 370’ or a location slightlyabove or below), each slot being at least 0.5 cm or 1 cm or 1.5 cm or 2cm in length, where either (i) the average ‘lateral distance betweenlaterally-adjacent slots’ is at most 4 mm or at most 3 mm or at most 2.5mm or at most 2 mm; and/or (ii) a majority of slots (or a significantmajority of slots—e.g. at least 70% or 80% of the slots) have alongitudinal-average width that is least 0.2 mm or at least 0.3 mm andat most 1.2 mm or at most 1 mm or at most 0.8 mm or at most 0.7 mm or atmost 0.6 mm; (iii) a ratio between an average slot-slot lateral distanceand an average slot width is at most 4 or at most 3 (if this ratio is‘too high’ and/or the slots are laterally spaced ‘far from each other’this may ‘reduce the opportunities for hair strands to upwardly traverseshield 220.

FIG. 23A-23D relates to a use case where the cross section of not allteeth is the same. In FIG. 23A, the top of the tooth is 246, the bottomis 248, and the ‘midpoint’ or line is 249. This line may delineate tworegions—a ‘higher region’ above 249 nearer to the top 246 of the tooth(this region will on average be narrower), and a ‘lower region’ below249 nearer to the bottom 246 of the tooth (this region will on averagebe narrower).

In some embodiments, a ratio between (i) an average tooth cross width inthis ‘lower region’ below 249 and (ii) an average tooth cross width inthis ‘higher region’ above 249 may be at least 1.1 or at least 1.2 or atleast 1.3 or at least 1.4 or at least 1.5 or at least 1.6 or at least1.7 or at least 1.8 or at least 1.9 or at least 2 or at least 2.5

The ‘average tooth cross section’ width may be averaged according to anytechnique disclosed herein—for example, longitudinally over the toothaxis in a certain region of the entirety of the tooth and/or between anyset of teeth (or sub-set) of the tooth array.

In FIG. 24B, the ‘upper region’ is defined as above point 911 (¾ of theway to the top) while the ‘lower region’ is defined as below point 909(¾ of the way to the bottom).

In some embodiments, a ratio between (i) an average tooth cross width inthis ‘lower region’ below 909 and (ii) an average tooth cross width inthis ‘higher region’ above 911 may be at least 1.3 or at least 1.5 or atleast 1.7 or at least 2 or at least 2.5 or at least 3 or at least 4 orat least 5 or at least 7 or at least 10. The ‘average tooth crosssection’ width may be averaged according to any technique disclosedherein—for example, longitudinally over the tooth axis in a certainregion of the entirety of the tooth and/or between any set of teeth (orsub-set) of the tooth array.

In FIG. 23C-23D, it is shown that the void or slot 390 may, in contrastto the teeth, be ‘wider near at the top’ (‘near the top’ is defined asabove mid-height level 923 in FIG. 23C and above three-quarters heightlevel 925 in FIG. 23D) and ‘narrower near the bottom’ (‘near the top’ isdefined as below mid-height level 923 in FIG. 23C and below theone-quarter height level 927 in FIG. 23D)

The height ratio (i.e. average height in the wider region divided byaverage height in the narrower region) for the void (i.e. the ‘widerregion is the top and the ‘narrower region’ is the bottom but theprinciple, for at least the example of FIGS.23A-23D, may be similar.Thus height ratio for the void may be for FIG. 23C (i.e any case of the‘mid-height level) at least 1.1 or at least 1.2 or at least 1.3 or atleast 1.4 or at least 1.5 or at least 1.6 or at least 1.7 or at least1.8 or at least 1.9 or at least 2 or at least 2.5 and for FIG. 23D (anycase of the quarter or three quarter level) at least 1.3 or at least 1.5or at least 1.7 or at least 2 or at least 2.5 or at least 3 or at least4 or at least 5 or at least 7 or at least 10.

As noted above, in some embodiments, the tooth may have an asymmetricwidth profile where the region closer to the bottom 248 of the tooth 330tends to have a wider/large width, while the region closer to the top248 of the tooth 330 tends to have a narrower/smaller width. As notedabove, this may lead to a situation where the top/upper surface 280 ofshield 220 has a relatively rough topography (for example, undulating)while the bottom/lower surface 290 of shield 220 has a relatively‘smooth’ topography.

In some embodiments, if one were to move a small cylinder 850 (e.g.having a length of 1 mm or 2 mm or 3 mm or 5 mm or 1 cm or 1.5 cm or 2cm or 2.5 cm) in a lateral direction over upper surface 280 (e.g. foreach tooth pair lower-bounded by the location of the minimum gap 370),because the upper surface of topographically rough, this cylinder wouldmove up and down as the small cylinder is moved over upper surface280—this is shown in the frames of FIG. 24A-24F.

Various numbers describing possible cylinder sizes may refer either tocylinder radius or cylinder diameter. In one example, the cylinder 850has a radius or diameter of 0.6 mm. In another example, the cylinder 850has a radius or diameter of 0.8 mm. In one example, the cylinder 850 hasa radius or diameter of 0.6 mm. In another example, the cylinder 850 hasa radius or diameter of 1 mm. In one example, the cylinder has a radiuso or diameter f 0.6 mm. In another example, the cylinder 850 has aradius or diameter of 1.3 mm.

Possible minimum cylinder radii (or minimum diameters) are: 0.4 mm, 0.5mm, 0.6 mm, 0.8 mm, 1 mm, 1.2 mm, 1.4 mm, 1.6 mm, 1.8 mm and 2 mm.Possible maximum cylinder radii (or maximum diameters) are: 2.5 mm, 2mm, 1.8 mm, 1.6 mm, 1.4 mm, 1.2 mm, 1 mm, 0.8 mm and 0.4 mm—ranges maybe formed by any mixing of any minimum and any maximum (for this featureor any feature herein).

In FIGS. 25A-25B, the trajectory of the cylinder from the ‘experiment’of FIGS. 24A-24F is illustrated—the magnitude/size (i.e. in the ‘heightdirection) of the undulations and/or oscillations is given by OSC1 andmay be at least 0.4 mm or at least 0.6 mm or at least 0.8 mm or at least1 mm or at least 1.2 mm or at least 1.4 mm or at or at least 1.6 mm orat least 1.8 mm or at least 2 mm. This ‘oscillation’ or ‘undulation’magnitude (which ultimately describes surface 280) may be achieved on‘distinct’ occasions (i.e. separated in the ‘lateral direction’ by atleast 1 mm or by at least 1.5 or by at least 1.8 mm or by at least 2 mmor by at least 2.5 mm) along the lateral directions—for example, atleast 3 times or at least 5 times or least 7 times or at least 10 timesor at least 13 times. In the non-limiting example of FIG. 24A, thelateral separation distance between these ‘distinct occasions’corresponds to the substantially periodic form (i.e. in the lateral 260direction) of surface 280. However, it is noted that the surface 280 isnot required to be periodic.

In FIG. 26, the experiment of FIGS. 24A-24F is repeated, with the samecylinder, for the ‘lower/bottom surface 290.’ In FIG. 27, the trajectoryis illustrated. the magnitude/size (i.e. in the ‘height direction) ofthe undulations and/or oscillations is given by OSC2 and may be at most1 mm or at most 0.5 mm or at most 0.3 mm or at most 0.3 mm or at most0.1 mm. In some embodiments, in order for OSC2 to ‘count,’ it needs tooccur only once. In some embodiments, it needs to occur at least 2 or 3or 4 or 5 or 7 times at ‘distinct lateral locations’ separated by atleast 1 mm or 1.5 mm or 2 mm.

In some embodiments, OSC1 is larger than OSC2 so that the ratio betweenOSC1 and OSC2 is at least 2 or at least 3 or at least 5 or at least 7 orat least 10. It is understood that for the rounded triangles OSC1/OSC2may be quite large—however, for other shapes that are also substantiallytriangular (for example, if there is some sort of structure ‘below’ thebase, then OSC1/OSC2 may not be as large.

Various embodiments of the present invention may relate to: methods forcoloring hair (for example, with an aerosol hair-coloring agent);devices for coloring hair (for example, including shield 220 and aerosolassembly 400) kits for coloring hair (for example, including a shield220 and aerosol assembly 400 or a portion of an aerosol assembly) andshields 220 configured to be useful for hair coloring. Thus, in someembodiments, shield 220 and aerosol assembly 400 may be sold separatelyor as a kit (for example, attachable to each other either permanentlyattachable or detachably attachable.

Thus, any ‘system or device including a shield and an aerosol assembly’may also be provided as a ‘kit including the shield and the aerosolassembly where the shield and the aerosol assembly may be coupled toeach other (for example, assembly by fastening at least a portion ofeach to each other).

In one non-limiting example, a single kit includes an aerosol assemblyand shields 220 of multiple lengths—for example, a ‘short shield’ of alongitudinal length (e.g. from the tip to the base of the tooth) of lessthan 4 cm or less than 4.5 cm, and a ‘long shield’ of a longitudinallength (e.g. from the tip to the base of the tooth) of more than 5 cm ormore than 5.5 cm or more than 6 cm or more than 6.5 cm (i.e. anycombination).

FIG. 28 describes a routine for assembling such a kit into anypresently-disclosed system.

FIG. 29 is a flow chart of using a hair coloring device (see FIGS.11A-11C and FIG. 12 also).

FIG. 30 describers an aerosol assembly—for example, the orifice has awidth of 0.3 mm in FIG. 30A, the form relatively small droplets (e.g.less than 100 microns by average, or less than 80 microns or less than60 microns or less than 50 microns)—thus, the width of the orifice maybe less than 0.6 mm or less than 0.5 mm.

One salient feature of FIG. 30B, is a ‘rectangular-shaped spray insert’(e.g. a ratio between a length and a width is at least 1.2 or at least1.4 so that the produced spray (see the dotted line which shows aprimarily horizontal spray form) is a fan spray, for example, having asubstantially rectangular cross section.

General Discussion of Features

As noted earlier, some embodiments of the present invention relate to aslot array of elongated slots or a tooth array of elongated teeth. It isappreciated that various tooth or slot properties (for example, relatingto a width profile, an aspect ratio, a cross-section shape, a gapdistance near teeth) may not be required to prevail for a majority ofteeth and/or for a majority of locations along elongated tooth or slotaxis (i.e. within the entirety of the tooth or the slot or within agiven elongated ‘section’).

For any feature or combination of features disclosed herein for a‘majority of teeth’ (i.e. of a plurality of teeth) or a majority ofvoids or slots (i.e. for a plurality of voids or slots) this feature mayalso apply (i.e. any feature or combination of features), in alternativeembodiments, to a ‘significant minority’ (i.e. at least 30%) or to a‘significant majority’ (i.e. at least 70%) or a ‘very significantmajority’ (i.e. at least 90%) of teeth or voids or slots.

Similarly, for any feature or combination of features disclosed hereinfor “most locations’ (i.e. for at least 50% of the locations) within a‘section’ of a tooth or slot or void or the shield (i.e. along alongitudinal or central axis) along a longitudinal axis and/or alonglength of tooth and/or along a length of slots or a length of voidsbetween neighboring teeth, this feature of may also apply to‘significant minority’ (i.e. at least 30%) of locations within thesection or to a ‘significant majority’ (i.e. at least 70%) of locationsin the section or a ‘very significant majority’ (i.e. at least 90%) ofteeth of locations in the section along a longitudinal axis.

Some features (or combinations of features) are disclosed for ‘sectionsof teeth’ or ‘section of shield’ having a given length. For any featureor combination of features, this length may be at least 2 cm, or atleast 2.5 cm or at least 3 cm or at least 3.5 cm or at least 4 cm.

When a feature (or feature combination) is disclosed for a majority orsignificant minority or significant majority or a very significantmajority of a number of slots or voids or teeth, this number of teeth orslots or voids may be at least 8, at least 10, at least 12, at least 14,at least 16, at least 18, or at least 20 for any feature (ofcombination) disclosed herein.

Any discussion of ‘majority’ may also apply to ‘significant minority’(at least 30%) or ‘significant majority’ (i.e. at least 70%) or a ‘verysignificant majority’ (i.e. at least 90%).

The skilled artisan will know how to choose appropriate materials fromwhich the shield or any other component should be constructed. In onenon-limiting example, the shield is constructed from plastic or anyother material apparent to the skilled artisan after reading the presentdisclosure.

In some embodiments, a kit for constructing any presently disclosedsystem is described. The kit may include: (i) a hair penetrating shieldand (ii) a aerosol assembly which when coupled to each other may produceany presently disclosed hair-coloring device (i.e. that include both theshield and the aerosol assembly).

In one example, a single kit may include multiple shields such a longershield and shorter shield. A length ratio (i.e. where length is alongthe longitudinal direction) between the lengths of two shields may be atleast 1.3 or at least 1.5 or at least 1.7 or at least 2.

In some embodiments, any kit may include instructions for combiningand/or mating the aerosol assembly and the hair shield (for example,according to FIG. 28).

In some embodiments, when the ‘quick-drying’ hair-coloring compositionis delivered to hair (for example, for coat the hair), it may dry on thesurface of the hair in less than 8 minutes or less than 6 minutes orless than 4 minutes or less than 2 minutes.

Generally speaking, a ‘quick-drying’ composition or agent dries fasterthan water. In one example, when a drop (e.g. from an eye-dropper) the“quick-drying' composition or agent is placed on a porcelain plate inroom temperature conditions, it will dry faster than the water (i.e.subjected to a similar porcelain plate experiment). In some embodiments,the drying time of the “quick-drying' composition or agent may be closerto the drying time of alcohol (i.e. subjected to an identical porcelainplate experiment) than to the drying time of water.

One salient feature of FIGS. 11A-11C is that the shield is relativelylong and narrow. In some embodiments, the ratio of length to the widthof the shield is at least 1.25 or at least 1.5 or at least 1.7 or atleast 2. Use of a ‘narrow shield’ (i.e. whose width is at most 5 cm orat most 4 cm or at most 3 cm or at most 2 cm). may be useful fortreating ‘delicate areas’ though this is not a requirement.

First Additional Discussion

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-coloring device forcoloring hair roots, the device comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shield220 comprising a tooth array having top 280 and bottom 290 surfaces andhaving proximal 228 and distal 224 ends, the tooth array including atleast eight (or at least 10 or at least 12 or at least 14 or at least 16or at least 20) closely-spaced teeth such that for a majority (or a‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ majority) of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion 330 and atapered distal portion 240 for facilitating hair penetration; and ii)for each tooth of the majority, the main portion 330 includes a sectionhaving a length of at least 2.5 cm where for most locations along thetooth axis within the section:

-   -   A) a cross section of the tooth has an asymmetric width profile        along the shield thickness axis 270 such that the tooth cross        section, on average, is narrower near the top 248 of the tooth        and the tooth cross section, on average, is wider near the        bottom 246 of the tooth;    -   B) the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2 (in some        embodiments, less than 3 mm̂2 or less than 2.5 mm̂2 or less than 2        mm̂2—in some embodiments, at least 0.5 mm̂2 or at least 0.75 mm̂2        or at least 1 mm̂2); and    -   C) the tooth is separated from a laterally neighboring tooth to        provide a minimum gap distance 370 that is between 0.3 mm and 1        mm, and    -   b) an aerosol assembly 400 coupled to the hair-penetrating        shield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outlet        elevated above the top surface 280 of the shield, the aerosol        assembly configured to dispense or ‘spray out’ a non-viscous        hair-coloring agent as a mist in a proximal-distal direction        defined by the array of teeth onto the top 280 surface of the        shield 220 such that the hair-penetrating shield protects the        space beneath the bottom surface from the non-viscous        hair-coloring agent.

In some embodiments, each tooth has a top-bottom midpoint 249 that ismidway between the tooth's top 352 and bottom 362, and wherein for themajority of teeth of the tooth array, for most locations along the toothaxis within the section, a width ratio between: i) a first average toothwidth describing the average tooth width below the top-bottom midpoint;and ii) a second average tooth width describing the average tooth widthabove the top-bottom midpoint is at least 1.2 (or at least 1.3 or atleast 1.7 or at least 2).

In one example, for the majority of teeth, for most locations along thetooth axis, the width ratio is at least 1.6.

In some embodiments, for the majority of teeth, for most locations alongthe tooth axis, the tooth cross section is less than 5 mm̂2 or less thanthan 3 mm̂2.

In some embodiments, for the majority of teeth, for most locations alongthe tooth axis: i) each pair of laterally neighboring teeth T1 and T2are positioned to form a respective intertooth lateral void 390 that isin between the laterally neighboring teeth within a height range havingupper and lower bounds: A) the upper bound being the lower height of thetop 246 of tooth T1 and the top 246 of tooth T2, and B) the lower boundbeing the greater height of the bottom 246 of tooth T1 and the bottom246 of tooth T2, and ii) a cross section of the respective intertoothvoid has an asymmetric width profile along the shield thickness axis 270such that the void cross section, on average, is wider near the top ofthe intertooth void 390 and the intertooth void 390, on average, isnarrower near the bottom of the intertooth void 390.

In some embodiments, i) each void has a top-bottom void mid-height level923 that is midway between upper and lower bounds of the height range;ii) for the majority of teeth of the tooth array, for most locationsalong the tooth axis within the section, a width ratio between: i) afirst average void width describing the average void width above thetop-bottom void mid-height level; ii) a second average void widthdescribing the average void width below the top-bottom void mid-heightlevel, is at least 1.1 or at least 1.2 or at least 1.4 or at least 1.5or at least 1.6 or at least 1.8 or at least 2.

It is now disclosed for the first time a hair-coloring device forcoloring hair roots, the device comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shield220 having top 280 and bottom 290 surfaces, comprising a slot arrayhaving at least eight (or at least 10 or at least 12 or at least 14 orat least 16 or at least 20) elongated shield-thickness-spanning narrowslots 480 that are substantially aligned a proximal-distal direction,the hair-penetrating shield 220 including a longitudinal section of atleast 2.5 cm where: i) for a majority of slots of the array, each slotprovide a shield-thickness-spanning property throughout a majority ofthe longitudinal section (reminder—as for any ‘majority’ feature thismay be a significant or very significant majority); ii) an array-wideaverage cross-section-minimum-slot width is between 0.3 mm and 1 mmand/or for the majority of slots of the array each provide, throughout amajority of the longitudinal-subsection cross-section-minimum-slot widththat is between 0.3 mm and 1 mm (or at most 0.8 mm); iii) for themajority of slots of the slot array, a slot aspect ratio within thelongitudinal section is at least 30 (or at least 40 or at least 50 or atleast 60 or at least 70 or at least 80 or at least 90 or at least 100)the slot aspect ratio being defined by a ratio between the slot lengthwithin the section and an individual-slot longitudinal-averagedcross-section-minimum-slot width averaged over the longitudinal section;iv) an array-wide average slot-slot lateral distance within thelongitudinal section is at most 3 mm and/or at most a value equal to 3times the array-wide average cross-section-minimum-slot width within thelongitudinal section the hair-penetrating shield including a pluralityof elongated, tapered penetrating elements (for example, having aminimum length of 2 mm or 3 mm or 4 mm and a ratio between length andaverage width of at least 1.5 or at least 2) located at the distal endof the shield 220; and b) an aerosol assembly 400 coupled to thehair-penetrating shield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosoloutlet elevated above the top surface 280 of the shield, the aerosolassembly configured to dispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as amist in a proximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth ontothe top 280 surface of the shield 220 such that the hair-penetratingshield protects the space beneath the bottom surface from thenon-viscous hair-coloring agent.

In some embodiments, the laterally-spaced distal penetrating elementsmay be spaced in integral multiples of the slot-slot widths and/orconfigured to correspond to the slots.

In some embodiments, for each slot of the majority of slots, for mostlongitudinal locations within the longitudinal section, the slotexhibits an asymmetric width profile along the shield thickness axis 270such that the slot thickness is narrower near the bottom surface 290 ofthe shield than it is near the top surface 280 of the shield.

In some embodiments, for a majority of a region that is laterally boundby the first and last slot of the slot array and within the longitudinalsection, the top surface 280 is rough relative to the bottom surface 290for a topographic length scale of 1 mm.

It is now disclosed hair-coloring device for coloring hair roots, thedevice comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shield 220 comprising a tootharray having top 280 and bottom 290 surfaces and having proximal 228 anddistal 224 ends, the tooth array including at least eight (or at least10 or at least 12 or at least 14 or at least 16 or at least 20)closely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray (or a significant or very significant majority—like for anyfeature) i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion 330 and atapered distal portion 240 for facilitating hair penetration; ii) eachtooth of the majority includes a longitudinal section having a length ofat least 2.5 cm where: A) the aspect ratio of the tooth within thesection is at least 20, the tooth aspect ratio between defined by aratio between the tooth length within the section and a square root ofthe longitudinally-averaged tooth cross section within the section; B)for most locations within the tooth longitudinal section, the toothcross-section is less than 5 mm̂2 (or less than 3 mm̂2); iii) for mostlocations within the longitudinal section, the tooth is separated from alaterally neighboring tooth to provide a minimum gap distance 370 thatis between 0.3 mm and 1 mm, b) an aerosol assembly 400 coupled to thehair-penetrating shield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosoloutlet elevated above the top surface of the shield, the aerosolassembly configured to dispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as amist in a proximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth ontothe top 280 surface of the shield 220 such that the hair-penetratingshield protects the space beneath the bottom surface from thenon-viscous hair-coloring agent.

It is now disclosed a hair-coloring device for coloring hair roots, thedevice comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shield 220 comprising a tootharray having top 280 and bottom 290 surfaces and having proximal 228 anddistal 224 ends, the tooth array including at least eight (or at least10 or at least 12 or at least 14 or at least 16 or at least 20)closely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teeth of the tootharray: i) each tooth of the majority includes a main portion 330 and atapered distal portion 240 for facilitating hair penetration; ii) eachtooth of the majority includes a longitudinal section having a length ofat least 2.5 cm where: i) for most locations within the toothlongitudinal section, the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2 (orless than 3 mm̂2 or less than 2.5 mm̂2 or less than 2 mm̂2); ii) the toothis separated from a laterally neighboring tooth to provide a minimum gapdistance 370, a ratio between a length of the longitudinal section ofthe tooth and the longitudinally-averaged minimum gap distance with thelaterally neighboring tooth being at least 30 (or at least 40 or atleast 50 or at least 60), the minimum gap distance 370 being, for mostlocations within the longitudinal section, that is between 0.3 mm and 1mm; and b) an aerosol assembly 400 coupled to the hair-penetratingshield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outlet elevated abovethe top surface of the shield, the aerosol assembly configured todispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist in aproximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth onto the top 280surface of the shield 220 such that the hair-penetrating shield protectsthe space beneath the bottom surface from the non-viscous hair-coloringagent. It is now disclosed a hair-coloring device for coloring hairroots, the device comprising: a) a hair-penetrating shield 220comprising a tooth array having top 280 and bottom 290 surfaces andhaving proximal 228 and distal 224 ends, the tooth array including atleast eight (or at least 10 or at least 12 or at least 14 or at least 16or at least 20) closely-spaced teeth such that for a majority of teethof the tooth array (or a significant or very significant majority) i)each tooth of the majority includes a main portion 330 and a tapereddistal portion 240 for facilitating hair penetration; and ii) for eachtooth of the majority, the main portion 330 includes a section having alength of at least 2.5 cm where for most locations along the tooth axiswithin the section: A) a cross section of the tooth has an substantialtriangular shape, the substantial triangle pointing upwards along theshield thickness axis 270; and B) the tooth cross-section is less than 5mm̂2; and b) an aerosol assembly 400 coupled to the hair-penetratingshield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outlet elevated abovethe top surface 280 of the shield, the aerosol assembly configured todispense or spray out a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist in aproximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth onto the top 280surface of the shield 220 such that the hair-penetrating shield protectsthe space beneath the bottom surface from the non-viscous hair-coloringagent.

A Second Additional Discussion

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a hair coloringapplicator constructed in accordance with the present embodiments andparticularly useful for touching-up hair along a hair line in a quickand convenient manner.

As shown particularly in the exploded view of FIG. 5, the hair coloringapplicator comprises four main components: a container, generallydesignated 10, for containing a quantity of a hair coloring composition;an attachment 20 attachable to one end of container 10; a shield 30carried by the attachment; and an outer housing 40 enclosing container10 and serving as a handle for grasping and manipulating the applicator.

As clearly seen in FIG. 5, container 10 is an aerosol container ofcylindrical configuration and may be of any known construction. Itincludes a quantity of the hair coloring composition to be dispensed,which may be in powder or liquid form; preferably, it also includes apropellant gas for dispensing the hair coloring composition in the formof a spray. One end of aerosol container 10 includes an outlet 12 in theform of a nozzle through which the composition is dispensed, and a valveindicated at 14, which is normally closed, but which is opened upontilting or depressing nozzle 12, to dispense the composition in the formof a spray via the nozzle. Attachment 20 is removably attachable to theend of aerosol container 10 including the nozzle 12. Attachment 20includes a shield 30, which, as will be more particularly describedbelow, exposes the root regions of the hairs to be touched-up, to thehair coloring composition spray dispensed via nozzle 12 when valve 14 isopened, while at the same time effectively blocking the individual'sscalp from exposure to the hair coloring composition spray. Shield 30 isfixedly attached to attachment 20, but may also be removably attachablethereto for replacement or cleaning purposes. The shield and/orattachment may be constructed for one-time use, or for repeated use.

The lower end 21 of attachment 20 is of a cylindrical configuration andhas an inner diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of theaerosol container 10. One side of attachment 20 is formed with a slantedtop wall 22 terminating in a top rim 23 formed with a projection 24 forreceiving the shield 30 with a friction or snap fit. When attachment 20is applied over the upper end of aerosol container 10, an opening 25 inslanted wall 22 is aligned with nozzle 12 of the aerosol container,whereas a push button 25 is aligned with valve 14 of the aerosolcontainer. The construction is such that upon depression of the pushbutton, nozzle 12 of the container is tilted or depressed to open valve14, thereby to produce a spray of the hair coloring composition over theouter surface of shield 30 via opening 25 in the attachment.

As seen particularly in FIG. 5, opening 25 of attachment 20 is locatedbetween push button 26 and the shield 30 attached to peripheral wall 23of the attachment. Nozzle 12, and opening 25 in the attachment areoriented to produce a fan-shaped spray directed towards the proximal(inner) end of the shield.

Shield 30 includes a plurality of spaced teeth 31 extendingsubstantially parallel to the longitudinal axis LA of aerosol container10 and integrally formed with a spline 32 extending substantiallyperpendicularly to the longitudinal axis LA. As shown particularly inFIG. 3, the teeth 31 of shield 30 are arrayed in a substantially lineararray, which array is offset from the longitudinal axis LA of theaerosol container. Teeth 31 are of small width and thickness and areclosely spaced. Preferably, they are less than 2 mm in width, thicknessand spacing, and are tapered to points at their outer tips.

As will be described more particularly below, when the applicator isused for touching-up hair along a hair line, the applicator ismanipulated such that surface 30 a of shield 30 serves an inner surfacepressed against the individual's scalp, whereas surface 30 b serves asan outer surface which is exposed to the hair coloring composition spraydispensed from nozzle 12 of the aerosol container 10 via opening 22 ofthe attachment 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, the outer housing 40 of the applicator is also ofcylindrical configuration corresponding to the cylindrical configurationof the aerosol container 10. The inner diameter of housing 40 issubstantially equal to the outer diameter of aerosol container 10 so asto snugly receive the aerosol container, and thereby to act as a handlefor gripping and manipulating the applicator. Preferably the uppersurface 41 of outer housing 40, and the inner rim 27 of the attachment20, are of complementary curved configurations so as to present apleasing appearance to the applicator when all the parts are assembledas shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, for example.

The manner of using the applicator of FIGS. 1-5 will be apparent fromthe above description. Thus, after all its parts have been assembled, asshown in FIGS. 1-3, the user grasps the outer housing 40, orients theshield 30 such that surface 30a faces and presses against theindividual's scalp, and manipulates the applicator such that the rootregions of the hairs along the hairline to be touched-up are received inthe spaces between teeth 31. The user then depresses push button 26, toproduce a spray via nozzle 12 over the outer side 30b of the shield 30,while the shield is moved along the hair line to be touched-up. Theso-produced spray of hair coloring composition coats the root regions ofthe hairs exposed by teeth 31 at the proximal end of shield 30, whereasthe remainder of the shield effectively blocks the passage of the haircoloring composition spray to the individual's scalp.

After the hair coloring composition has been depleted from aerosolcontainer 10, the holder 40, attachment 20 and shield 30 may bedisassembled and applied to a fresh aerosol container 10.

The hair coloring applicator illustrated in FIGS. 6-10 is alsoconstructed of basically the same parts as the applicator of FIGS. 1-5,namely including an aerosol container 110 (FIG. 10), an attachment 120applied to one end of the aerosol container, a shield 130 carried by theattachment, and an outer housing 140 enclosing aerosol container 110 andserving as a handle for gripping and manipulating the applicator.

The main difference in the applicator illustrated in FIGS. 6-10 overthat illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 is that the outer housing 140, and theattachment 120, are not of a cylindrical configuration, but rather of asubstantially square configuration with rounded corners, so as topresent a more comfortable gripping of the applicator when manipulatingit, as well as a more pleasing outer appearance to the applicator.

In all other respects, the applicator illustrated in FIGS. 6-10 isconstructed and used in substantially the same manner as described abovewith respect to FIGS. 1-5.

While the applicator has been described with respect to two preferredembodiments, it will be appreciated that these are set forth merely forpurposes of example, and that many other variations and applications ofthe invention may be made. For example, instead of using an aerosolcontainer for dispensing the hair-dye in the form of a spray, apump-type container may be used wherein the push button 26 is effectiveto pump out a spray of the hair-dye, rather than to open a valvepermitting the propellant fluid within the container to produce thehair-dye spray. Also, the push button may be on a side wall of thecontainer rather than on the attachment. Further, the teeth of theshield may be non-parallel to the longitudinal axis of the container,e.g., 90° or less.

The applicators described herein may contain any hair coloringcomposition suitable for coloring hair, preferably suitable for“touching-up” local areas of an individual's hair, and more preferablysuitable for touching-up hair along a hairline of a subject.

The hair coloring composition can include any hair coloring agent(s)(pigments), formulated with a suitable carrier (e.g., designed forforming a hair coloring composition in the form of a spray). Preferably,the hair coloring composition is for temporarily coloring hair. Whilethe applicators described herein may contain any suitable hair coloringcomposition, the present inventors have developed hair-coloring agents,formulations and compositions that are particularly useful when used inthe context of these and other embodiments of the present invention.

A Third Additional Discussion

According to one aspect of the embodiments of the present invention,there is provided a hair-coloring applicator comprising a container forcontaining a quantity of hair-coloring composition including an outletat one end of the container through which the hair-coloring compositionmay be dispensed, and a shield projecting outwardly from one end of thecontainer. The shield includes a plurality of closely spaced teethhaving inner surfaces to be pressed against the subject's scalp with theroot regions of the hairs passing through the spaces between the teeth,and outer surfaces to be exposed to the hair-coloring spray compositiondispensed from the container such that the hair-coloring compositioncoats the root regions of the hairs passing through the spaces betweenthe teeth, while the teeth substantially block the hair-coloringcomposition from reaching the subject's scalp. The abovementionedapplicator is particularly useful for touching-up hair along a hairlineof an individual.

As used herein, the phrase “touching-up” describes the coloring of hairin a quick and simple manner. This phrase further describes the coloringof local areas of hair, particularly local areas of gray or white hairsuch as the root region or parts thereof. The phrase “root region”describes the part of a hair closest to the scalp.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the shield iscarried by an attachment to the end of the container, and the containeris an aerosol container for dispensing the hair-coloring composition inthe form of a spray through a nozzle.

As used herein, the phrase “aerosol container” describes any containersuitable for releasing a composition contained therein in the form of aspray. For example, the container should be capable of withstanding theinternal pressure of a pressurized composition, and the nozzle should beconfigured so as to allow escaping pressurized composition to escape inthe form of an aerosol.

In some embodiments, the abovementioned attachment includes an openingaligned with the nozzle.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the abovementionedattachment further includes a push button controlling the dispensing ofhair-coloring composition via the nozzle. In some embodiments, theabovementioned opening in the attachment that is aligned with the nozzleis located between the shield and the push button, such that the pushbutton can be reached through the opening.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the push button andthe opening are located on an outer surface of the attachment, whereinthe attachment slants towards the shield.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the spaced teeth ofthe shield are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the container.Preferably, the teeth are arrayed in a generally linear array that islaterally spaced from the longitudinal axis of the container.

According an embodiment of the present invention, the teeth are lessthan 2 mm in width, thickness, and spacing.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the teeth aretapered to a point at their outer tips.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the applicatorfurther comprises an outer housing enclosing the abovementionedcontainer, the outer housing serving as a handle for gripping andmanipulating the applicator. The outer housing may have any shape thatis suitable for being held by hand.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the outer housingand the container are both cylindrical.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the containeris cylindrical, and the outer housing is non-cylindrical.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided ahair coloring applicator comprising a container containing a quantity ofhair coloring composition and including an outlet at one end of thecontainer through which the hair coloring composition is dispensed andan attachment attached to the end of the container carrying the outlet,the attachment including a shield. The shield has a plurality of spacedteeth which pass between the subject's hairs to expose the root regionsof the hairs passing through the teeth, while the teeth substantiallyblock the hair coloring composition from passing through to thesubject's scalp. Such an applicator is particularly useful fortouching-up hair along a hairline of a subject.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, each of the haircoloring compositions described herein is identified for use intemporary hair coloring and/or in coloring white or gray hair.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, each of the haircoloring compositions described herein is identified for use intouching-up hair along a hairline of an individual.

In one embodiment of the present invention, any of the hair coloringcompositions described herein is packaged in an applicator adapted fordispensing the composition onto hair, and identified for use in haircoloring, as described hereinabove.

Any applicator suitable for applying a composition onto hair may beused. Exemplary applicators include, but are not limited to, a wick-typeapplicator, a squeeze bottle, an aerosol container, a comb-typeapplicator, a drop dispenser and a pump-type applicator.

As used herein, the phrase “wick-type applicator” encompasses anyapplicator comprising a wick which absorbs a quantity of a liquidcomposition, wherein the composition may be applied to a surface bycontacting the wick with the absorbed composition to the surface. Thequantity of the composition absorbed in the wick may be replenished, forexample, by dipping the wick into a quantity of the composition storedin a container, or by part of the wick being in continuous contact withthe composition in a container, the composition being drawn into thewick via absorption by the wick. The container containing thecomposition may serve as a component of the applicator along with thewick.

As used herein, the term “wick” describes an article-of-manufacturingcapable of absorbing a liquid and of allowing the liquid to escape fromthe surface of the article-of-manufacturing.

As used herein, the phrase “squeeze bottle” encompasses any applicatorcomprising a container for storing a composition, the container havingat least one flexible wall, wherein the composition may be forced out ofthe container by applying force (e.g. squeezing) to the flexible wall(s)of the container. Typically, the container includes a valve that allowsa composition to exit the container under a certain pressure (such asthe pressure generated by applying force to the flexible wall of thecontainer), but which prevents composition from leaving the container inthe absence of such pressure.

As used herein, the phrase “comb-type applicator” encompasses anyapplicator comprising a comb or a brush, the comb or brush having aquantity of composition adhered thereto, wherein the composition may beapplied to a surface by contacting the comb or brush to the surface. Thequantity of composition which is adhered to the comb or brush may bereplenished by contacting the comb or brush with a composition stored ina container. The container may serve as a component of the applicator.

As used herein, the phrase “drop dispenser” encompasses any applicatorcomprising a container containing therein a liquid composition, thecontainer having a small opening which allows the passage of a smallquantity of the composition from the inside of the container through theopening to the outer surface of the container, thereby resulting in asmall quantity of composition (i.e. a drop) on the outer surface of thecontainer. The drop of composition may be applied to a surface bycontacting the drop with the surface. The liquid composition in thecontainer may be replenished from a larger quantity of compositionstored in a larger container, which may serve as a component of theapplicator.

As defined herein, the phrase “pump-type applicator” encompasses anyapplicator comprising a container for storing a composition with a pumpattached thereto, wherein the composition may be forced out of thecontainer by a pressure applied by the pump. The container may include avalve that allows a composition to exit the container under a pressureapplied by the pump, but which prevents composition from leaving thecontainer in the absence of such pressure. The pressure applied by thepump may be generated by any means, including, but not limited to, byhand (e.g. a syringe), by a spring, by an electronic motor, or by apressurized fluid.

As used herein, the phrase “aerosol container”, when used to describe anapplicator, encompasses any applicator comprising an aerosol container,as this phrase has been defined hereinabove. An applicator described asan aerosol container may include additional components besides theaerosol container.

When the hair coloring composition is a composition useful for coloringwhite and/or gray hair, the composition is preferably identified assuch. When the hair coloring composition is a composition useful fortemporary hair coloring, the composition is preferably identified assuch.

When the hair coloring composition is a composition useful fortouching-up hair along a hairline of an individual, the composition ispreferably identified as such.

The applicators, hair coloring agents and hair coloring compositionsdescribed hereinabove are particularly advantageous when used incombination.

Hence, according to another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an applicator as described hereinabove, wherein a hair coloringcomposition to be contained therein comprises a suitable carrier and atleast one hair coloring agent selected from the group consisting of afirst hair

coloring agent which comprises a purified polymer of tannic acid havingiron ions bound thereto, being substantially devoid of unbound ironions, and a second hair coloring agent which comprises a condensationpolymer of a reducing carbohydrate and an amino acid, as these haircoloring agents are described herein.

The features of the composition are as described hereinabove.Preferably, in embodiments comprising an applicator which releases acomposition in the form of a spray, the composition to be containedtherein is in the form of a spray, as described hereinabove.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided anapplicator, as described hereinabove, wherein the hair coloringcomposition to be contained therein comprises at least one hair coloringagent and a carrier which comprises a hydrophobic volatile solvent,water, a glycol and a surface active agent, as described hereinabove.

The features of the composition are as described hereinabove.Preferably, in embodiments comprising an applicator which releases acomposition in the form of a spray, the composition to be containedtherein is in the form of a spray, as described hereinabove.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a haircoloring composition comprising both a carrier described hereinabove andat least one hair coloring agent described hereinabove.

The optional and preferable features of the composition are as describedhereinabove.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an applicatordescribed hereinabove is combined with a hair coloring compositioncomprising both a carrier described hereinabove and at least one haircoloring agent described hereinabove.

Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the presentinvention will become apparent to one ordinarily skilled in the art uponexamination of the following examples, which are not intended to belimiting. Additionally, each of the various embodiments and aspects ofthe present invention as delineated hereinabove and as claimed in theclaims section below finds experimental support in the followingexamples.

It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, forclarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also beprovided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in thecontext of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or inany suitable subcombination.

Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specificembodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modificationsand variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scopeof the appended claims. All publications, patents and patentapplications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated intheir entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extentas if each individual publication, patent or patent application wasspecifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein byreference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference inthis application shall not be construed as an admission that suchreference is available as prior art to the present invention.

1-25. (canceled)
 26. A kit for coloring hair roots, the kit comprising:a. a hair-penetrating shield comprising a tooth array having top andbottom surfaces and having proximal and distal ends, the tooth arrayincluding at least eight closely-spaced teeth such that for a majorityof teeth of the tooth array: i. each tooth of the majority includes amain portion and a tapered distal portion for facilitating hairpenetration; and ii. for each tooth of the majority, the main portionincludes a section having a length of at least 2.5 cm where for mostlocations along the tooth axis within the section: A. a cross section ofthe tooth has an asymmetric width profile along the shield thicknessaxis such that the tooth cross section, on average, is narrower near thetop of the tooth and the tooth cross section, on average, is wider nearthe bottom of the tooth; B. the tooth cross-section is less than 5 mm̂2;and C. the tooth is separated from a laterally neighboring tooth toprovide a minimum gap distance that is between 0.3 mm and 1 mm, and b.an aerosol assembly, the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outletelevated above the top surface of the shield, the aerosol assemblyconfigured to dispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist in aproximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth onto the topsurface of the shield such that the hair-penetrating shield protects thespace beneath the bottom surface from the non-viscous hair-coloringagent.
 27. A hair-coloring device comprising: the kit of claim 26wherein the hair-penetrating shield is coupled to the aerosol assembly.28. The hair-coloring device of claim 27 wherein each tooth has atop-bottom midpoint that is midway between the tooth's top and bottom,and wherein for the majority of teeth of the tooth array, for mostlocations along the tooth axis within the section, a width ratiobetween: i. a first average tooth width describing the average toothwidth below the top-bottom midpoint; ii. a second average tooth widthdescribing the average tooth width above the top-bottom midpoint is atleast 1.2.
 29. The hair coloring device of claim 27 wherein, for themajority of teeth, for most locations along the tooth axis, the toothcross section is less than 3 mm̂2.
 30. The hair coloring device of claim27 wherein, for the majority of teeth, for most locations along thetooth axis wherein: i. each pair of laterally neighboring teeth T1 andT2 are positioned to form a respective intertooth lateral void that isin between the laterally neighboring teeth within a height range havingupper and lower bounds: A. the upper bound being the lower height of thetop of tooth T1 and the top of tooth T2, and B. the lower bound beingthe greater height of the bottom of tooth T1 and the bottom of tooth T2,and ii. a cross section of the respective intertooth void has anasymmetric width profile along the shield thickness axis such that thevoid cross section, on average, is wider near the top of the intertoothvoid and the intertooh void, on average, is narrower near the bottom ofthe intertooth void.
 31. The hair coloring device of claim 27 wherein:i. each void has a top-bottom void mid-height level that is midwaybetween upper and lower bounds of the height range; ii. for the majorityof teeth of the tooth array, for most locations along the tooth axiswithin the section, a width ratio between: A. a first average void widthdescribing the average void width above the top-bottom void mid-heightlevel; B. a second average void width describing the average void widthbelow the top-bottom void mid-height level, is at least 1.2.
 32. Amethod of touching up hair roots of an individual, the methodcomprising: a. providing a hair-penetrating shield comprising a tootharray having top and bottom surfaces and having proximal and distalends, the tooth array including at least eight closely-spaced teeth suchthat for a majority of teeth of the tooth array: i. each tooth of themajority includes a main portion and a tapered distal portion forfacilitating hair penetration; and ii. for each tooth of the majority,the main portion includes a section having a length of at least 2.5 cmwhere for most locations along the tooth axis within the section: A. across section of the tooth has an asymmetric width profile along theshield thickness axis such that the tooth cross section, on average, isnarrower near the top of the tooth and the tooth cross section, onaverage, is wider near the bottom of the tooth; B. the toothcross-section is less than 5 mm̂2; and C. the tooth is separated from alaterally neighboring tooth to provide a minimum gap distance that isbetween 0.3 mm and 1 mm, and b. engaging the hair-penetrating shield toa user's head so that the bottom surface of the shield faces that user'sscalp and so that root regions of the user's hair pass through spacesbetween the teeth of the shield; and c. dispensing a non-viscoushair-coloring agent as a mist on the top surface of the shield so as tocolor the root regions of the user's hair such that the hair-penetratingshield protects, from the non-viscous hair-coloring agent, the user'sscalp that is facing the bottom surface of the shield.
 33. Ahair-coloring device for coloring hair roots, the device comprising: a)a hair-penetrating shield having top and bottom surfaces, comprising aslot array having at least eight elongated shield-thickness-spanningnarrow slots that are substantially aligned a proximal-distal direction,the hair-penetrating shield including a longitudinal section of at least2.5 cm where: i) for a majority of slots of the array, each slot providea shield-thickness-spanning property throughout a majority of thelongitudinal section; ii) an array-wide averagecross-section-minimum-slot width is between 0.3 mm and 1 mm and/or forthe majority of slots of the array each provide, throughout a majorityof the longitudinal-subsection cross-section-minimum-slot width that isbetween 0.3 mm and 1 mm; iii) for the majority of slots of the slotarray, a slot aspect ratio within the longitudinal section is at least30, the slot aspect ratio being defined by a ratio between the slotlength within the section and an individual-slot longitudinal-averagedcross-section-minimum-slot width averaged over the longitudinal section;iv) an array-wide average slot-slot lateral distance within thelongitudinal section is at most 3 mm and/or at most a value equal to 3times the array-wide average cross-section-minimum-slot width within thelongitudinal section the hair-penetrating shield including a pluralityof elongated, tapered penetrating elements located at the distal end ofthe shield ; and; b) an aerosol assembly coupled to the hair-penetratingshield, the aerosol assembly including an aerosol outlet elevated abovethe top surface of the shield, the aerosol assembly configured todispense a non-viscous hair-coloring agent as a mist in aproximal-distal direction defined by the array of teeth onto the topsurface of the shield such that the hair-penetrating shield protects thespace beneath the bottom surface from the non-viscous hair-coloringagent.
 34. The device of claim 33 wherein for each slot of the majorityof slots, for most longitudinal locations within the longitudinalsection, the slot exhibits an asymmetric width profile along the shieldthickness axis such that the slot thickness is narrower near the bottomsurface of the shield than it is near the top surface of the shield. 35.The device of claim 33 wherein for a majority of a region that islaterally bound by the first and last slot of the slot array and withinthe longitudinal section, the top surface is rough relative to thebottom surface for a topographic length scale of 1 mm.
 36. The haircoloring device of claim 33 wherein the slot array having at least 14elongated shield-thickness-spanning narrow slots.